Thursday, October 25, 2018

Vol. 129, Issue 9

Thursday, October 25, 2018

“Markets...in turbulence”

“Misfortune of the monopoly”

“Weak regulator”

Why premiums are soaring Charlottesville’s health insurance premiums are some of the highest in the nation. Why?

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MADDY SITA AND MARK FELICE | THE CAVALIER DAILY

THE CAVALIER DAILY

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In Brief

NEWS

CD News Staff

U.Va. President Jim Ryan announces tuition-free proposal for in-state students from families earning less than $80K University President Jim Ryan announced at his inauguration Oct. 19 that students from Virginia families earning less than $80,000 a year with “typical assets” will be able to attend U.Va. tuition-free.

Students whose families earn less than $30,000 a year with typical assets will be eligible for free room and board on top of free tuition.

University Spokesperson Anthony de Bruyn said in an email statement to The Cavalier Daily that students from Virginia families earning less than $80,000 will receive scholarships or grants for tuition, but may receive loans to cover room and board and other

expenses, such as textbooks and travel. Students from Virginia families earning $30,000 or less will receive scholarships and grants for both tuition and room and board, but may still receive loans to cover other expenses. Federal work-study programs may still be included in aid, de Bruyn said.

De Bruyn noted that the plan will focus on the incoming Class of 2023, though current students will still be eligible for the expansion of aid.

ANDREW WALSH | THE CAVALIER DAILY

University President Jim Ryan made the announcement at his inauguration Oct. 19.

Student Council, Inter-Sorority Council bring free menstrual hygiene products to library bathrooms

DARYA TAHAN | THE CAVALIER DAILY

The menstrual hygiene products will be available until Nov. 4 or until supplies last.

Student Council has launched its latest initiative in collaboration with the Inter-Sorority Council to provide free menstrual products to students in bathrooms at libraries on Grounds.

The supplies will be available on the second and fourth floor bathrooms of Clemons, the fourth floor of Alderman and the main floor of Brown Library at Clark Hall. The project will run from Oct. 22 until Nov. 4, or while supplies last.

This initiative is part of Student Council’s ongoing efforts to increase access to free menstrual hygiene products around Grounds. This past March, Student Council and the ISC collaborated to place around 1,100

tampons and pads in several bathrooms in Newcomb.

In September, Student Council partnered with Madison House to place 884 tampons and pads in the first floor bathrooms of Madison House, providing offGrounds access to free feminine hygiene.

Zoe Denenberg, a fourth-year College student and the ISC president, said in an email that for this project, both the ISC and Student Council contributed funds to purchase the products. According to Denenberg, last semester the ISC and Student Council together contributed $400 worth of products. For this project, the ISC contributed $1,000 of funding, allowing the initiative to supply significantly more tampons and pads.

Honor Committee renames psychological evaluation procedure with more inclusive terminology The Honor Committee approved changing the name of the Contributory Mental Disorder process to Contributory Health Impairment in a meeting Sunday. The change is intended to make the terminology more inclusive by acknowledging that the current policy also allows for conditions that are not explicitly mental, such as a brain tumor, but could still contribute to committing Honor offenses.

The CMD is a procedure that allows students to request a psychological evaluation prior to moving through Honor proceedings to determine if a mental health condition contributed to the commission of the offense, which is typically overseen by the Office of the Dean of Students

and conducted by Student Health or the University’s Counseling and Psychological Services.

“Potentially changing the name from CMD to CHI, while seemingly inconsequential, would be a step in the right direction in changing how these things are referred to outside of Honor,” Lindsay Fisher, a Law student and co-chair of the policies and procedures subcommittee, said in a meeting on Oct. 14.

The change will affect both the bylaws and the procedures, though the change is only nominal — the definition of the term and use of the procedure will remain the same in practice.

RILEY WALSH | THE CAVALIER DAILY

The change is intended to make the terminology more inclusive.

Attendance at Young Alumni Reunions drops only slightly, despite marketing and location changes

COURTESY HAILEY ROSS

The Young Alumni Reunion was hosted in Sprint Pavillion downtown for the first time.

After two major changes — including relocation from the Amphitheater to Sprint Pavilion in Downtown Charlottesville and marketing targeting only the past three years of graduates, instead of the usual four — Young Alumni Reunions hit the town Oct. 13, bringing in thousands of University alumni.

Despite the movement off-Grounds, attendance at the event remained relatively consistent, according to Alumni Programs Director Jessica Hamilton. Attendance only dropped by about 100 people from the previous year, even with a smaller target audience. In total,

2018’s YAR event had around 3,400 attendees, while 2017’s had about 3,500.

Hamilton said the Alumni Association is collecting feedback about the changes made to the event through surveys from attendees, which went out a few days after the event. They have so far found that the “results have been overwhelmingly positive.”

Additionally, Hamilton responded to concerns about young alumni that have been looking forward to YAR being initially worried or confused about the new venue.

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www.cavalierdaily.com • NEWS

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018

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Students, faculty provide mixed feedback on New Curriculum An interim report conducted by board of faculty shows that the New Curriculum is hitting important milestones Haley Edmonds | Senior Writer In the second year of the implementation of the New College Curriculum — an alternative general education track offered in the College of Arts and Sciences — the number of students enrolled in the program has increased by one third and retention rates have doubled.

The New College Curriculum is one of three undergraduate paths incoming first-year students can choose to pursue in the College, along with the Traditional Curriculum and the Forums Curriculum — which is in its third year.

The New Curriculum is made up of three course components, called Engagements, Literacies and Disciplines, which are all structured to give students a more innovative and interdisciplinary edge to their general education.

The Engagement courses discuss distinct ways to understand one’s surroundings, the Literacies requirement focuses on writing and quantitative skills while the Disciplines requirement offers students a way to explore the various ways of academic learning offered at the University.

This curriculum is taught by a group of College faculty who have chosen to step away from teaching in the traditional curriculum for a period of two years and instead dedicate themselves to this alternative education.

This program is currently in its second year of a three year pilot period that will ultimately decide whether or not the New Curriculum will replace the Traditional Curriculum, or continue to serve as a permanent alterna-

tive.

During the 2017-18 academic year, the General Education Assessment Committee in the College of Arts and Sciences conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the New Curriculum investigating the soundness of the curriculum’s structure and sustainability as viewed by students and faculty. The faculty concluded they would continue to support the development of the program.

The results of the evaluation were overwhelmingly positive, though some faculty members expressed concerns about sustainability and scalability, such as issues with faculty recruitment, the impacts of such recruitment on College departments, as well as fears of declining enrollment.

Last year, 600 incoming students — around 16 percent of the class of 2021 — elected to enroll in the New College Curricular pilot program. This year, 800 incoming students, or 22 percent of the class, chose this option.

Of these 800 students currently enrolled, 700 students chose to be in the New Curriculum, and 100 others who indicated that they had no preference of program, were also placed in this Curriculum.

Clarence “Bo” Odom, manager for the curriculum implementation in the College, said the increase in enrollment can be attributed to the new marketing strategies the New Curriculum administrators have employed, including giving presentations on the New Curriculum at Days On The Lawn — the University’s series of informational days in

the spring for accepted students — and revamping their website.

This year, Odom said he hoped to further increase these marketing tactics, with the goal of bumping enrollment to between 1,000 and 1,200 students.

Not only have enrollment numbers been on the rise, but retention rates have also climbed.

Last year, 10 percent of enrolled students switched out of the New Curriculum and into the Traditional Curriculum, however, this year that number dropped to five percent. Incoming students were able to easily switch their chosen curriculum online and submit an application for a different curriculum until June 15 before their first year.

This year, the students who decided to switch out all came from the group of 100 students who were placed into the New Curriculum by default, rather than by choice.

Odom said he considers the shift a “huge success,” as it indicates that the other 700 students who intentionally chose the New Curriculum are happy where they are.

However, Odom added, students last year were primarily left because they were unsure if the program would allow them to potentially transfer to the McIntire School of Commerce, the Batten School of Public Policy and Leadership or other pre-professional tracks.

Margaret Manning, a second-year College student in the New Curriculum, explained her thought process behind the sentiment.

“I personally really liked it

Donʼt forget to

just because I felt like it really catered to what I want to study — I’m more liberal arts — but I know a lot of people dropped it after the first semester because they were pre-comm or premed,” Manning said. “It just took up too much time in their schedule and it wasn't necessarily helping them learn what they wanted in their major.”

Odom, on the other hand, said the administration has made sure to communicate more clearly to students that the New Curriculum works seamlessly with pre-professional tracks. For instance, the New Curriculum allows students to count up to 15 of the pre-health credits towards their New Curriculum requirement, and the New Curriculum website says students applying to Batten or McIntire will be “equally considered” regardless of their general education curriculums.

According to Odom, the program has not experienced attrition this year related to confusion over access to other academic tracks.

Mcraye Forsyth, a second-year College student who switched out of the New Curriculum after her first semester, said she found the discussion section held once a week with a random assortment of New Curriculum students enrolled in all different courses to be a downside of the curriculum.

According to Odom, the discussion section was a component of the course that many students and faculty suggested needed improvement. This year, Odom said students are no longer required to take a discussion sec-

tion that covers all of the engagements at once but rather focuses seven weeks on one organizing engagement theme. The four engagements are empirical and scientific engagement, engaging aesthetics, engaging differences and ethical engagement.

However, Anna Tyrrell, a first-year College student in the New Curriculum, said the discussion section still needs work.

“A lot of the discussion section was talking about sort of bland topics, and it wasn't really diving super deep into the topics that we could have been discussion,” Tyrrell said. “It wasn't necessarily super intriguing.”

Janet Spittler, the interim co-director of the New Curriculum, said she believes that while there are some kinks that need to be worked out, there are some elements about the program that are incredibly strong.

Some of these strengths include the small class sizes — ranging on average from between 18 to 35 students — and the Engagement courses, which Spittler compared to capstone projects — the application-based research projects students can undertake in their fourth year.

“Like the program is called, they're pretty engaging courses, so we’ve asked students to do this sort of thing that we might otherwise ask them to do in their fourth-year capstone,” Spittler said. “They're really looking at the complexities of things starting right from their first year.”

VOTE

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NEWS • www.cavalierdaily.com

UPD chief presents transparency reforms to StudCo Tommye Sutton plans to introduce new openness measures to UPD education requirement to become an officer Katja Cresanti | Associate News Editor

GEREMIA DI MARO | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Police Chief Tommye Sutton addressed Sutdent Council about ways to improve the relationship between UPD and the student body, such as increasing departmental transparency.

During the Student Council general body meeting Tuesday night, University Police Department Chief Tommye Sutton described his plan to improve the relationship between UPD and the student body. The plan includes increasing police transparency, engaging with the students on Grounds and including students in the hiring process for future UPD officers.

Sutton began his tenure as chief of UPD on Aug. 1, replacing Michael Gibson, who announced his retirement in May. UPD has faced criticism from students and community members within the past year for its lack of response to the white supremacist demonstrations of Aug. 11, 2017 near the Rotunda, as documented in an independent review by Tim Heaphy, a former U.S. Attorney and current University Counsel. UPD was also criticized by community members this past August for a large massing of police personnel near the Academical Village during a U.Va. Students United rally at Brooks Hall.

However, Sutton said he hopes to foster strong connections between UPD officers and the University community going forward.

“We want to develop a relationship with students well before they need us, so that we’re on a first-name basis,” Sutton said.

“All of that’s about to change so

that, if you have any questions, you’ll know how to find my email address, or you’ll know how to find my office phone to give me a call. Because we are truly here to serve you.”

Sutton added that a new education requirement will be introduced prior to the next hiring cycle for the UPD, requiring either a bachelor’s degree or at least four years of military service.

“Not to be exclusionary, but in this environment where we have first-years, we have [doctoral candidates], we have law students, they need officers that understand this environment,” Sutton said. “Officers that work on teams, individuals from different religious backgrounds, sexual orientations, just different ideologies in general.”

Sutton said UPD will also begin to include students in the hiring process for all new officers, including student government organizations and minority student organizations.

“It shouldn’t just be a person being interviewed by a table full of police officers deciding if this person should be a police officer, because they have one perspective,” Sutton said. “Because it’s easier to pick the right person on the front end than to manage that corrective action process on the back end for bad behavior.”

Sutton said the department is also looking to completely over-

haul its outreach and engagement efforts within the University community to include more diverse segments of the student body.

“It’s the department’s job to engage holistically, not just have three or four officers do the work of engaging, so that you do know who we are,” he said. “That I’m not so unapproachable that you wouldn’t feel comfortable speaking to me.”

Sutton also said the department will be prioritizing new forms of training for its officers moving forward — including “fair and impartial” policing practices and de-escalation tactics to mitigate conflicts — to allow the University community to be informed as to why officers are taking certain actions.

Avery Gagne, a second-year College student and Student Council representative, asked whether Sutton would be willing to participate in a town hall with Student Council during which students from the University could ask questions of UPD. “If we can exchange ideas, and get actionable items, I’m for it,” Sutton said. “But I’m not going to yell with students, I’m not going to scream back and forth, it’s just not who I am as a person or a professional … But I’m not in favor of opening it up to a shouting match where someone lets you know how upset they are, but then leave, and we’ve accomplished nothing.”

Abigail Heher, a third-year College student and the chair of the Sustainability Committee, asked whether Sutton had any data on the education backgrounds of current UPD officers.

Sutton responded that the department will soon be releasing a transparency report on the UPD website with information on the race and gender of all UPD supervisors, as well as their education backgrounds.

The website will also be updated to include officers’ names, photos, emails, office location and phone numbers, according to Sutton. Sutton added that the department will be introducing a new transparency measure that involves issuing receipts to people who are stopped by police.

“Another thing we’re going to take action on in the future … is that when we stop an individual, we’re going to give that person a field stop receipt,” Sutton said.

A field stop receipt would provide documentation stating which officer performed the stop, the date of the interaction, time and location of the stop and the reason for the incident.

Finally, Sutton responded to a question about stop-and-frisk policy at the University, but was opposed to using the term ‘stop and frisk.’ The Charlottesville City Council received an update about stop and frisk practices — otherwise known as investigative

detentions — for the City’s police department last week from Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney.

“Stop-and-frisk is illegal in the United States of America — You can’t do it, you have to have a basis of stopping an individual,” Sutton said. “Stopping someone for reasonable suspicion, to have reasonable belief that they have committed a crime, is lawful and legal, but stop-and-frisk in itself is illegal — and we definitely don’t engage in stop-and-frisk.”

At the City Council meeting, Brackney gave a presentation on the city police department’s new method of collecting stop-andfrisk data. According to Brackney’s presentation, the data collected for September of this year showed that 33 percent of people stopped and searched in Charlottesville were African American, while roughly 18 percent of the City’s population is African American.

Student Council President Alex Cintron, a fourth-year College student, has appointed Katie Kirk, a second-year College student and Safety and Wellness Committee chair, to chair the selection committee for a student police advisory board. The selection committee will hold its first meeting Wednesday, and the board is expected to meet for the first time Nov. 28.

www.cavalierdaily.com • NEWS

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018

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Can a $50M bond support affordable housing in Charlottesville?

The proposed bond would fund redevelopment, repairs for the City’s public housing stock Caroline Stoerker | Associate News Editor Catalyzed by the white supremacist rallies in August 2017, the City of Charlottesville has faced a reckoning for a wide variety of racial disparities. Among demands to address racial housing inequities throughout the city, several anti-racist and housing justice advocates are calling for a $50 million bond to fund affordable and public housing needs in the area.

Brandon Collins, a member of the Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition (CLICH) — an umbrella housing activism group — and the lead organizer of the Charlottesville Public Housing Association of Residents, said the proposal has far-reaching implications for addressing racial inequality in the City.

More specifically, Collins said the proposal comes at a time when many long-time African-American residents, notably those in the Prospect, Rose Hill and Fifeville neighborhoods, feel like they are being pushed out of Charlottesville due to gentrification and rising property taxes — and the affiliated rent hikes.

According to local housing experts, the proposed bond — with the purpose of redeveloping the City's existing public housing stock and the construction of affordable public housing in Charlottesville — would be a significant step in helping to rectify a long-term shortage of more than 4,000 affordable housing units in the City.

The scale of the City’s housing crisis The addition of the nearly 4,000 affordable units by 2040 would satisfy the existing demand for low-income housing in Charlottesville. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, an “affordable” unit is one that a three-member family can purchase or rent for 30 percent or less of the area’s median income.

In the City of Charlottesville, the area median income is $44,284 and $60,047 in the encompassing metropolitan area, which includes Albemarle County as well as nearby Fluvanna, Greene and Nelson Counties.

At a joint work session between the City Council and the City’s Housing Advisory Committee last month, Ridge Schuyler — co-chair of the policy subcommittee for the HAC — said the average price for a two-bedroom apartment in Charlottesville has grown 27 percent, from $931 a month in 2011 to around $1,250 a month in 2018, adding that wages in the City have

not kept up with the increase in rent rates. The national average two-bedroom rent is $1,180.

Schuyler added that 1,800 families, or 29 percent of families in the city, did not earn enough income to be self-sufficient — or without external financial assistance — in 2011. Meanwhile, more than 2,000 families, or 25 percent of families in the City, continue to earn too little to be financially self-sufficient.

Schuyler’s findings originate from research he has conducted locally during the past seven years as the founder of the Orange Dot anti-poverty project.

Households making under $25,000 annually — which includes these “extremely low-income families,” as defined by HUD — comprise approximately 30 percent of Charlottesville’s population and approximately 20 percent of the City’s encompassing metropolitan area, according to a Housing Needs Assessment commissioned by the City earlier this year.

Currently, the City is able to issue General Obligation Bonds — or those issued by a municipality with the backing of its own credit and taxing power — to finance City endeavors and school capital improvement programs. Such bonds are approved by the City Council with the passage of the City’s budget each fiscal year. The City has received a AAA bond rating since 1973.

However, at the joint work session between the Council and the HAC, Councilor Wes Bellamy said the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority should also be given the power to issue bonds to renovate existing public housing units and purchase land for the construction additional affordable units.

Bellamy said this would allow for the CRHA to autonomously allocate funds to housing projects as it sees fit, given its greater expertise in the matter and connections to local organizations. However, other councilors expressed concerns during the work session with the CRHA’s limited credit rating to issue bonds as it has not previously done so in the past.

No members of City Council responded to requests for comment from The Cavalier Daily.

Finding funding for affordable housing Edgar Olsen — an economics professor and housing policy scholar — compared the bond to a traditional loan, noting that the amount that would need to be paid back by the City of Charlottesville over time would be greater than

the allotted $50 million due to interest rates. “[Issuing the bond would require] either one of two things: either raise the tax rate and raise more tax revenue, or cut back on something you’re currently spending on,” Olsen said in an interview.

Olsen described the bond as “certainly feasible” in an economic sense, as the bond would serve to increase the amount of money allocated annually to fund affordable housing projects around the City.

Grant Duffield, the executive director of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority, also described the proposed bond in an interview with The Cavalier Daily as “entirely feasible” and one that should be “widely embraced” by the Charlottesville community.

“When you weigh it against the benefit that it provides our community, [$50 million] is a nominal investment in the well-being of Charlottesville for the future,” Duffield said.

During the September work session, HAC Chair Phil d’Oronzio said a very rough estimate of the amount of money necessary for funding affordable housing in the City by 2040 could be as much as $120 million, estimating that the 4,000 needed units would be valued at $30,000 each.

The City currently has 376 units of public housing and 720 units of housing funded by low-income tax credits — and 40 percent need to be replaced in the near future due to age and high maintenance costs, according to the Housing Needs Assessment.

Each year, HUD gives CRHA approximately $1.2 million from subsidies and $1.2 million in tenant rents. The City’s budget for the 2019 fiscal year also allocated $19.5 million over a five-year time period for redevelopment and construction of affordable housing. CRHA also receives $300,000 annually from the federal government, but Collins says the amount may decrease in the future.

At its Oct. 1 meeting, the Council allocated more than $2 million from the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund to several housing initiatives in the area.

Currently, the CAHF has about $167,000 in funds remaining for the 2019 fiscal year.

Challenges to the bond and affordable housing policy reform The current state of funding for these projects is insufficient according to Collins, as “tens of millions or hundreds of millions” are needed to provide an adequate

JAKE GOLD | THE CAVALIER DAILY

The addition of nearly 4,000 affordable units by 2040 would satisfy the existing demand for low-income housing in Charlottesville.

financial solution to the City’s lack of affordable housing.

“The way you get that kind of money is by having a community conversation that prioritizes addressing the affordable housing crisis and redevelopment of public housing,” Collins said.

The nationwide public housing program was first initiated in 1937 following President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs.

Public housing as many Americans know it today began during President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society initiative, designed to be a short-term program that Duffield says is largely outdated in applying to today’s housing crisis.

“The thought was, ‘We’ll build public housing because there is a need for low-income housing, but we’ll address the root causes of poverty, eliminate those and we won’t have a need for low-income housing in the long term,’” Duffield said.

However, Olsen is skeptical about whether the bond would indeed have a strong impact on the City’s affordable housing scene.

From Olsen’s viewpoint, this is because most redistributive policies — policies through which the government obtains money from citizens and redistributes it to areas where it sees fit — are conducted at the federal level, not at the local level.

“One issue is if it makes sense for a local government — especially one that’s a small part of a larger area — to try and conduct a redistributive program, taxing richer people to provide subsidies of any sort to low income people,” Olsen said.

Olsen also voiced concerns over where the bond money would be specifically used. In the context of affordable and low-income housing, funds could be used for a range of initiatives, from providing housing vouchers for the private housing market to setting up tenants in public housing complexes, which are fully operated by governmental agencies.

In a 2017 research document on Charlottesville’s affordable housing policy, Olsen mentioned aggressive expansion of Section 8 homeownership through CRHA as a possible alternative solution for those in the City who are homeless or in need of affordable housing. Section 8 homeownership is a program giving low-income families opportunities to both rent and own houses through the use of vouchers.

“The evidence on the performance of low-income housing programs is unambiguous that it costs much less to provide equally good housing in equally desirable neighborhoods with tenant-based housing vouchers than in housing projects of any type,” Olsen wrote.

Duffield believes investing in affordable and low-income housing units not only improves quality of life for those who reside in those units, but also betters the community as a whole.

“Public housing is an investment that affords our community to be the community that we enjoy today, for everyone in the community and for our residents as well,” Duffield said.

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LIFE Antwon Brinson moved to the City of Charlottesville in hopes of opening a restaurant for a new club downtown. To his dismay, he realized that the culinary workforce in the Charlottesville community was not only minimal but also lacked the qualifications necessary to work at an upscale restaurant.

He quickly detoured his career path by launching Culinary Concepts AB, a training program designed to first help young adults acquire technical skills in culinary arts and then connect them with jobs in the community.

It is often difficult for businesses to find initial success, but Brinson found support from the City’s Minority Business Program.

“This program connects me with resources that allow me to help my students remove barriers, such as transportation and child care,” Brinson said. “Being a small business, I did not have the capital to provide these type of services.”

The City’s Minority Business Program consists of two parts. The first facet is the Office of Economic Development, which is typically the more outward facing office. The OED is what the public sees as it works directly with businesses. It is present at community events and hosts events like the career fairs and business expos.

On the other hand, the Division of Procurement and Risk Management is more internal. Once the OED begins a relationship with an individual, such as a minority business owner, DPRM

THE CAVALIER DAILY

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Charlottesville program supports small businesses The City’s Minority Business Program has helped expose local businesses to the wider market Madison Masloff | Feature Writer steps in to work with decentralized buyers to make sure they know the individual’s business exists.

In order for a business to receive these requests for quotes and proposals, it must receive “SWaM” certification from the Virginia Department of Small Business & Supplier Diversity.

SWaM — which stands for Small, Women-owned, and Minority-owned Business — will allow businesses to appear on a huge database that buyers, such as government agencies or other large organizations, turn to when submitting requests for quotes and proposals.

There is also a designation within SWaM called SWaM-O, in which the O stands for micro-businesses. This designation is available for businesses that have 25 employees or less. To receive certification, the state must verify that the business is actually micro, small, women- or minority-owned.

The City’s Minority Business Program works hard to certify all businesses that meet at least one of these requirements so that no business in the Charlottesville is missing out on any opportunities. Holly Lee, the chief of workforce development strategies for the City, spoke of the importance of getting this designation.

“If we’re able to get minority owned businesses SWaM certified, and we get them in the system and registered the way we need them to be, they’re going to have so much more opportunity to increase their revenue,” Lee said. “They’re going to be getting [requests for quotes] from state agencies, from local government agencies and other large organizations that are

using the SWaM database.”

Samuel Spillman, a doctor at Balanced Chiropractic and Physical Therapy said his business originally decided to get SWaM certified because they were preparing a bid for services for the City. They did not end up getting the bid and have not seen any uptick in requests for their services since receiving the designation.

“I’d hoped that with the SWaM designation potential patients might be more inclined to choose us as a small local business over national chains or local large businesses that provide similar services, but I'm not sure people consider that in health care as opposed to making a restaurant choice,” Spillman said in an email to The Cavalier Daily. “I think most people are not familiar with the SWaM designation unless they are in city government or perhaps at the University.”

Will Kulick, a general manager of Blue Ridge Graphics, said he was proud his business is SWaM certified and thought the ability of local businesses to positively benefit from each other and from the city was there, even though there were limitations to what the certification actually did for his company.

“The designation has helped us reach new customers across the state, but not as much as we had originally hoped,” Kulick said. “In our experience, most quotes put out to SWaM vendors also allow out-of-state vendors who do not follow the same certification standards and whom we feel often drive down prices in hopes of taking the business out of state.”

Lee said it is critical that businesses

that get certified are also entered into eVA — the state procurement system — and register with each locality where they plan to do business.

Even though the program currently has multiple components to help these businesses, Lee conceded that it is not perfect.

“We are working to better the program by creating one robust, minority business program.” Lee said in an email. “This includes combining the efforts of the Office of Economic Development and Division of Procurement and Risk Management. Although we’ve worked closely together in the past, having the two new positions working in tandem will further strengthen this relationship.”

Lee added that additional events and outreach would also be helpful.

“The city gathers local businesses together for networking and information, thereby creating a tighter local economy,” Kulick said. “Jason Ness and Kelly Bassett are doing great thing to grow local businesses’ awareness and we’re very happy to be a part.”

Ness and Bassett work alongside Lee in the Office of Economic Development.

Pearl Island Foods founder Sober Pierre is another example of someone who founded a minority-run business and utilized the City’s Minority Business Program’s resources from start to finish.

“He’s someone who came to me years ago, and he came into my office with this thing called ‘Pikliz,’ which is basically a Haitian sauerkraut, and he had this idea that he wanted to bottle it and sell it,” Lee said.

With help from the City’s program, Pierre has been able to establish his own Caribbean-inspired café and catering business for the city of Charlottesville and the University. He has primarily taken advantage of the program by utilizing the GO HIRE program and through hiring people that have gone through city training.

GO HIRE supports city businesses by subsidizing the wages of new employees being trained. Any new hire is eligible as long he or she is a resident of Charlottesville and is making a self-sufficient salary.

“The GoHire program is great,” Pierre said in an email. “It helped defray the initial expenses of hiring for a position that we weren't sure we could afford but turned out to be pivotal to our growth potential. The value of GoHire is great for small businesses that don't necessarily have the capital to [invest] on risky opportunities that may or may not pan out.”

The City’s Minority Business Program also includes the Downtown Job Center, which offers employment consultations with individuals looking for assistance in the job search and application process. Additionally, the City hosts job fairs and a women and minority business expo which is geared towards business development.

Although these resources are offered to all businesses in Charlottesville, the Office of Economic Development has focused on making sure that small and women- and minority-owned businesses are aware of the programs.

Giving Trader Joe’s vegetable fried rice a healthy spin A recipe for all those students who want to cook nutritiously, but are running low on time Lindsay Smith | Food Columnist With a busy class schedule and a full set of extracurriculars, sometimes it can be hard to squeeze enough time out of my day to cook a healthy meal. But after a quick chat with my roommate, I no longer have to turn to take out. In a few life-changing sentences, she enlightened me with a suggestion for an easy dish that takes under 10 minutes to prep, cook and enjoy.

What is this miracle dish that fits perfectly between RELG 3360 and volunteering, while still providing wholesome nutrients and protein? Where does this new take on quick cooking that doesn’t involve noodles in sauce — no hard feelings, ramen or mac and cheese — come from? I like to call it “Vanessa’s Trader Joe’s Fried Rice,” and as the name implies, my favorite grocery store houses all the necessary ingredients. And a disclaimer, this article was not sponsored by Trader Joe’s, even

though I really wish it was.

Super easy and cheap, this dish only requires a few simple elements. The first and most fundamental is a bag of Trader Joe’s frozen vegetable fried rice — these go for just $2.29 a bag, with about two servings in each. Next up, an egg — this is essential to the dish and helps add some protein and a “filling factor” to the meal. Sadly, eggs must be bought in cartons, but if you buy a half carton with six eggs and three bags of rice, you are set for a whole six meals.

Everything else is entirely based on suggestion and wholly open to change, but personally, I like to pick up a bag of frozen, shelled edamame beans, shredded carrots, chopped onions and — when I’m feeling frisky — some bitesize bell peppers to beef up the fare.

With these things in tow, some oil, a wok or frying pan and a functioning stovetop complete my list of necessities.

The next step is the scary part — starting the actual cooking — but as you will shortly observe, this meal is super easy to prep and once you get the hang of it, it will quickly become your busy-day go-to.

To begin, heat some oil in a pan on medium-high heat, and chuck some bell peppers that have been sliced, diced or cut up poorly with some old kitchen scissors into the pan. Soon after, throw in some diced onions. Leave these to brown for a few minutes, making sure to stir and flip when you smell things starting to burn. Then, upend half the bag of prepared frozen rice in with it.

The instructions on the Trader Joe’s bag say to cook the rice for about five minutes. I like to toss in my extra frozen edamame beans — which can also be purchased at Trader Joe’s — with the rice, isn’t that fun? After all this has been in the pan for about a minute, I

mix in the diced carrots. Then comes the impressive part — the egg.

Making sure to stir the mixture regularly, I clear out an empty spot on one side of the pan. Then, I crack the egg right into the pan, making sure to poke the yolk so the yellow insides cook too. This part of the prep makes me feel like a boss MasterChef on some Food Network cooking show.

After leaving the egg to cook fully, I incorporate it into the vegetables and rice that has been cooking off to the side. I let this whole mixture continue to heat for a few minutes until I am sure everything has thawed and thoroughly cooked, and then I turn off the stovetop, grab a bowl and dump my creation in.

From start to finish, the meal takes a meager nine minutes on medium-high heat — broken down, that amounts to a couple minutes for the peppers and

onions to cook, five minutes for the packaged rice and frozen edamame to heat up and another minute or two to be sure the egg is all the way done. Now, it is more than just packaged frozen rice — it contains fresh vegetables, with all the vitamins they provide, as well as loads of extra protein from the egg and beans.

This recipe is cheap, quick, delicious and nutritious, and has speedily become my favorite dish for busy weekdays and slow weekends alike. It is also just simple enough for nights when my busy brain forgets to cook dinner until all my roommates are asleep, so I need something that I can cook with enough ninja-like precision stealth to both keep the apartment from burning down and keep my roommates from waking up.

www.cavalierdaily.com • LIFE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018

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Things I would do if I were U.Va. president Move over Jim Ryan, a new prez is in town

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Ashley Botkin | Top 10 Writer

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Nap days

We all love readings days because they’re a chance to gain back all of that sleep we lost over the semester. But is it really possible to return from full zombie to regular student in a couple of days? I certainly can’t. Instead, I would introduce nap days. These would be similar to reading days in that there would be no classes, but the priority would be getting rest and not studying. Would people inevitably end up at the library or some frat party?Probably. But don’t say I didn’t try.

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I’m not here to rag on adding more vegetarian options to Grounds, but did we really have to change the entire aesthetic of the Castle? It used to be like a fast food restaurant, convenience store and trap house combined into one beautiful experience, but now it’s like everything bougie in the world threw up on it. It’s so clean and sterile and well-lit. There’s no love or fun left in it. I’ve only been in the new Castle once. I took one look at it and walked right back out. It was like the end of an era that obviously needs to be restored.

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Endorse green books

A lot of people don’t know the difference between blue books and green books, but it’s really quite simple — green books are made from recycled materials. Everything else is the same! Same price, same number of pages and same format. There’s really no reason to buy blue books over green books unless you’re really concerned with the color of your exam booklet you will inevitably throw away after you get your grade back. But maybe all we need to finally realize that green books are superior is a little presidential push.

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Amend the Board of Visitors

I truly don’t understand anything about the Board of Visitors.

Like, I get that they make decisions for the University and all that, but nothing about it makes any sense. First of all, Board members are appointed by the governor, and Ralph Northam didn’t even attend the University.

The members that are chosen might not even have anything to do with our school before being appointed. Additionally, the majority of them aren’t located in Charlottesville, but they keep getting to make big decisions about the University, like raising tuition every year. It’s a totally illogical system in my opinion, so obviously, there would be some changes.

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Restore the Castle to its former glory

Create free student parking

One of the things that truly drives me insane is the price of parking. I’m not just talking about parking in garages, although they did just raise their rates for a reason unapparent to me. If you live anywhere that has student parking controlled by the University, you’re basically giving away part of your soul to not get ticketed. Some of you hecklers are probably thinking, “Ashley, you fool, just don’t bring a car and take the bus everywhere! Silly, entitled millennial.” But I’ll have you know that getting around Charlottesville is so difficult that a private scooter company might invade in order to help with the problem. So let me live.

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Build more Starbucks

I may or may not have a coffee problem. Do I feel terrible throughout the day if I don’t have my cup of coffee in the morning? Yes. Do I have coffee every day of the week? Also yes. Some would call it an addiction, but I think a love affair is more accurate. I have been so blessed by the new Starbucks opening in Newcomb, but I think that there should be way more. Maybe even one in Madison Hall where I’ll spend my days as president. Just throwing ideas out there, but I think it could really work.

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Buy bounce houses

I really can’t find a downside to this idea. I’ve never not had a good time while in a bounce house, and I don’t know anyone else who hasn’t either. Sometimes life gets way too serious, and you need a little joy brought into your life. We could even get them shaped like the Rotunda so we don’t mess up the feng shui of Grounds.

Buy a crown

How will anyone know I am president if I don’t have some sort of indicator?

Lots of people wear pantsuits, so dressing professionally wouldn’t help me at all. Sure, people would probably recognize me from the endless media coverage, but where’s the fun in that? Therefore, the only logical and viable solution would be a crown. I’m thinking silver, maybe with little blue and orange jewels as a reminder of which school I rule over.

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Get some better food

If you’ve ever read any of my articles, you know I have a little bit of a problem with the food served in the dining halls.

Technically it’s all fine, but serving the same under-seasoned options on an identifiable schedule can get a little old, especially for those of us that prefer eating things that taste good. Also, the dining hall workers always look so sad. Maybe it’s the fact that they’re not making a living wage or that they keep making the same thing over and over, but who am I to make assumptions? So who better to make some changes to such a big part of college life than the president?

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Golf carts

I really do hate walking. I have really short legs compared to a lot of people, so it takes me twice as much time and effort to get places. I’ll be walking along and see Facilities Management employees zooming around on their golf carts, and I always have the urge to stick my hand out like I’m hailing a taxi so I don’t have to exert as much effort to get from one place to the other. So why not just give everyone a golf cart? It could be a selling point for potential applicants and generally increase everyone’s quality of life.

MADDY SITA | THE CAVALIER DAILY

THE CAVALIER DAILY

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SPORTS

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KEYS TO THE GAME Stop North Carolina’s running game

PLAYERS TO WATCH Virginia cornerback Tim Harris

COURTESY VIRGINIA ATHLETICS

Eli Hanback will be leaned upon heavily against the run.

COURTESY VIRGINIA ATHLETICS

Tim Harris has improved in recent weeks.

As the defense continues to play a consistently solid and clean game, there are fewer areas that opponents can exploit as weaknesses. In fact, it’s starting to look as though opponents have to avoid playing into Virginia’s strengths.

One of those strengths is junior cornerback Bryce Hall. So, as opponents try to avoid playing to Hall’s side, this puts pressure on the other cornerbacks — senior Tim Harris and sophomore Darius Bratton — to step up and withstand the increased attacks. In his press conference Oct. 15, Coach Bronco Mendenhall said, in regards to the cornerbacks, that "any place that there is vulnerability, man, we are targeting it hopefully before our opponent. He also said that “Tim [Harris], after a slow start this season, continues through practice habits to establish and reestablish a role on this team that will help us.” Harris currently has eight solo tackles, eight assisted tackles and two broken up passes on the season. If he can continue to establish his role on the team in a way that helps Virginia tighten up any areas of imbalance or weakness, then the Cavaliers should have a defense that will be incredibly difficult for the Tar Heels to break.

THE KEYS TO FOOTBALL

Virginia vs.

North Carolina — a breakdown

Though the Tar Heels have struggled so far this year, in their lone win this season and in their last two contests — where they just came short against Virginia Tech and Syracuse — their running game has been somewhat of a bright spot. In each of those contests, either Antonio Williams or Michael Carter rushed for over 100 yards. Whereas in some of their biggest losses of the season, such as a 41-19 loss to ECU and a 47-10 loss to Miami, neither Williams nor Carter rushed for over 100 yards. So, if the Cavaliers can contain the two tailbacks, they should be able to significantly keep North Carolina’s offense in check.

Win the battle in the trenches

CD Sports Staff

Virginia running back PK Kier

CHRISTINA ANTON | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Given Jordan Ellis’ injury status, PK Kier will be key.

Sophomore PK Kier put in a solid shift at running back in the second half against Duke Saturday after senior running back Jordan Ellis went down, and may be asked to do the same — or at least have an increased workload — against North Carolina. Kier picked up 36 yards on 12 carries, but his numbers don’t show everything. Kier showed his explosiveness immediately upon entering the game with a 13-yard first down run. He was critical in the drive that put the Cavaliers up 17-7 and in icing the game in the fourth quarter.

“PK is Jordan Ellis just kind of in a different body,” Mendenhall said. “He runs for power. He runs for first downs and he's tough and durable.” Regardless of whether or not Kier is the starting running back against North Carolina or serving as understudy, the Cavaliers have something to be excited about for the future.

Riding a two-game winning streak, the Cavaliers gear up to host North Carolina. Virginia needs only one more win to become bowl-eligible. The Cavalier Daily sports staff takes a look at some key players and keys to the game that could help the Cavaliers defeat the Tar Heels and become bowl-eligible in back-toback years for the first time since going to four consecutive bowl games from 2002-05.

COURTESY VIRGINIA ATHLETICS

Dillon Reikensmeyet has led an improved Virginia offensive line.

Virginia’s offensive and defensive lines have improved tremendously since the start of the year, but are still a crucial key to victory — the Cavaliers can count on, for the most part, solid play from junior transfer quarterback Bryce Perkins, receivers like senior Olamide Zaccheaus and junior Hasise Dubois, its secondary, and its linebacking core. However, its play in the trenches has been inconsistent — although recently, it has been excellent and is one of the reasons why Virginia is doing so well in ACC play. The offensive line’s play was the reason the Cavaliers were able to maintain leads against Miami and Duke, working late into the game to provide key blocks for Perkins, Ellis and Kier to allow them to come up with first downs. The defensive line has also been better, and must be strong against North Carolina to create a pass rush and stop the run game. Mendenhall noted in Monday’s press conference specifically how junior Eli Hanback and sophomore Mandy Alonso have been playing essentially every snap. Their tenacity and endurance have been critical in getting to the quarterback and stopping the run game, in addition to the likes of freshman Jordan Redmond — who was noted in last week’s breakdown before the Duke game.

www.cavalierdaily.com • SPORTS

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018

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DIAGNOSING VOLLEYBALL’S BIGGEST FLAWS What problems have plagued the Cavaliers the most this season?

While the Virginia volleyball team has now picked up a pair of conference wins, the Cavaliers have still struggled immensely this season — especially against elite competition. With an ACC record of 2-8, Virginia has won just 20 percent of its conference games. Worse yet, the Cavaliers have lost half of those matches in straight sets.

Although Virginia has produced several memorable moments, the team has yet to pose a serious threat to the elite members of the ACC. The Cavaliers may have the goal of ultimately reaching the NCAA Tournament, but winning consistently in their own conference is the first step.

Virginia has a lot of room to improve and must address its weaknesses — a lack of a balanced attack, erratic defense and an inability to maintain leads and keep games close — to become a legitimate contender in the conference.

Lack of a balanced attack Successful volleyball teams can be built in many different ways, but one thing is virtually universal among all of them — the ability to generate offense when necessary. The Cavaliers’ attack, however, has struggled during conference play, as their ACC opponents have out-killed them 491-447.

While the Cavaliers’ offensive troubles can be attributed to a number of issues, one of the most obvious explanations is a complete absence of attacking balance. Throughout this season,

the Cavaliers have been led by sophomore outside hitter Sarah Billiard, who leads Virginia with 3.86 kills per set. However, the Cavaliers are not only led by Billiard — they are also dependent on the North Carolina native for much of their offensive production. In fact, Billiard alone has contributed 266 of the total 866 kills Virginia has registered this season across 18 matches — that means one player is responsible for over 30 percent of Virginia’s kills.

Moreover, Billiard isn’t exactly getting a lot of help this season. The only other Virginia players with more than 100 kills has been junior right-side hitter Jelena Novakovic and freshman outside-hitter Grace Turner. In comparison, Pittsburgh and Louisville — the two teams currently at the top of the ACC — have at least four players over the 100kill mark, emphasizing that having multiple attacking options is a key factor for success.

Virginia’s lack of attacking balance is problematic. If Billiard and her teammates don’t perform at the highest level throughout the match, then the attack could suffer from periods of stagnancy, which could lead to irrecoverable deficits.

The Cavaliers’ dominant sweep of North Carolina Oct. 14 highlights the success Virginia can achieve with a balanced offense. On that day, five Virginia players registered at least five kills and, accordingly, the team picked up a critical conference victory.

Unfortunately, poor depth and balance are not short-term fixes. Instead, both patience and long-term player development are necessary to build a solid squad. On a positive note, the Cavaliers are a very young group with many freshmen stepping up this year — especially Turner, who is third on the team with 122 kills. Accordingly, as Virginia’s players gain experience, Coach Aaron Smith will have the opportunity to develop a well-rounded team in time.

Erratic defense When the Cavaliers’ defense is firing on all cylinders, freshman middle blocker Milla Ciprian is delivering rejections left and right, junior libero Kelsey Miller is diving to save plays and the entire team is operating as one unit.

When the tide turns, however, Virginia can fall into long spells of trouble, struggling to cope as its opponent piles on the pressure. It is these moments where the Cavaliers’ defense has to step up and take control again but often fails to do so.

Virginia’s 1-3 loss to NC State Oct. 12 exemplifies their highly inconsistent defense. The Cavaliers were as stout as ever in the first set, holding the Wolfpack to an abysmal .025 hitting efficiency, as they recorded three blocks and forced 10 NC State errors. In the following three sets, however, Virginia’s defense collapsed, as the Wolfpack hit over .300 in each set and averaged 16.7 kills.

Defensive failure in those sets — on Virginia’s part — led to NC State winning three consecutive

sets and the game.

The contrast between the Cavaliers’ suffocating defense in the first set and their floundering performance in the remaining three is striking. Virginia simply cannot expect to defend so unevenly and still win especially against teams with punishing attacks.

It’s important to note, however, that Virginia has talented individual defenders on the team. Considering conference play only, Ciprian is averaging 1.49 blocks per set, and Miller is averaging 3.74 digs per set — No. 2 and No. 6 in the ACC, respectively. Clearly, the problem is not a lack of individual prowess but has more to do with Virginia’s ability to play as a complete team, anticipating spikes and defending aggressively as one unit.

Inability to maintain leads and keep games close One of Virginia volleyball’s key storylines this season has been the team’s inability to sustain advantages built early in the set.

On a number of occasions, Virginia has raced out to quick leads thanks to efficient offense and stingy defense. However, all too often, the Cavaliers fall flat as the set progresses and the opposing team is able to wrest control away from them.

When the Cavaliers lose their momentum, their lead can quickly evaporate. In volleyball, a team’s offensive and defensive play are highly connected. Explosive offense helps relieve the burden on the defense, and strong

defense sets up effective attacking opportunities. When both its offense and defense struggle, Virginia can become dormant and give up masses of points in rapid succession.

Throughout the season, the pattern has been the same. Virginia either takes the lead early or — at the very least — keeps the score line close before eventually allowing its opponent to run away with the set.

Against NC State, Virginia had a 5-2 lead in the third set before the Wolfpack used an 11-2 run to seize control.

In their game against Syracuse, the Cavaliers opened the second set on fire, taking a 10-3 lead, but the Orange erased the deficit with a 10-3 run of their own.

When they faced Pittsburgh — the best team in the ACC — Virginia used 7-0 and 4-0 runs to build a 20-13 lead in the second set. The Panthers, however, rallied and reeled off a 10-1 run to regain the advantage.

Practice, time and player development can all help the Cavaliers improve their offense and defense. However, if they don’t have the mental toughness and focus to maintain the leads they worked hard to build, more 3-1 and 3-0 losses await.

VIGNESH MULAY covers volleyball for The Cavalier Daily.

He can be reached at mulayvignesh@gmail.com or followed on Twitter @vigneshmulay.

Braxton Key cleared to play for men’s basketball Alabama transfer granted hardship waiver from NCAA Alec Dougherty | Sports Editor With the beginning of their season only two weeks away, the Virginia men’s basketball team received some long-awaited good news Monday afternoon. Junior transfer forward Braxton Key was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA after filing for a hardship waiver in June.

Key announced his intent to transfer from Alabama to Virginia for his final two years of eligibility in May. Virginia filed for an eligibility waiver on his behalf in mid-June, looking to circumvent the year-long sit-out penalty the NCAA places on all basketball transfers.

The waiver was a hardship request based on a sick family member that may not have been able to see him play if he had to sit out this season. The

NCAA got around to his request after granting several other high-profile waiver requests in recent weeks.

After holding their breaths for months, Virginia now knows it will have another great weapon to add to an experienced team. Key burst onto the scene with the Crimson Tide as a freshman in 2016, averaging 12 points and 5.7 points per game en route to a spot on the SEC All-Freshman team.

As a sophomore, a knee injury contributed to a drop in his averages and three-point percentage, but Key comes to Virginia healthy and ready to contribute.

At 6 feet 8 inches and 225 pounds, Key has a build similar to that of sophomore Cavalier forward De’Andre Hunter, last year’s ACC Sixth Man of

the Year. He gives Coach Tony Bennett some much needed depth and versatility, as Key can function well as a wing or inside presence with his physicality. His tenacious rebounding will help Virginia put pressure on the boards after the graduations of two strong rebounders in forward Isaiah Wilkins and guard Devon Hall.

Key has been practicing with the team since his arrival to Charlottesville over the summer. In the team’s annual open Blue-White Scrimmage, he tallied six points, six rebounds and three assists in his first action in front of the Cavalier faithful.

Virginia fans could get their first look at Key in real game action when Virginia will first take on Towson on Nov. 6 at John Paul Jones Arena.

COURTESY VIRGINIA ATHLETICS

Virginia fans got their first look at Braxton Key during the Oct. 13 Blue-White Scrimmage.

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THE CAVALIER DAILY

SPORTS • www.cavalierdaily.com

FOOTBALL SECONDARY IS A ‘NO FLY ZONE’ Suffocating play from the back end of the defense fuels the Cavaliers’ success

In their 2013-14 Super Bowl-winning season, the Seattle Seahawks rumbled through the NFL behind arguably one of the best secondary units in league history. Nicknamed the “Legion of Boom,” the foursome of Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas III, Kam Chancellor and Byron Maxwell terrorized opposing quarterbacks with smothering play against their receivers. They proved to be all too much for then-Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning to handle in Super Bowl XLVIII, holding his record-setting offense to just eight points in a 43-8 blowout win.

Reminiscent of the Legion of Boom, another dominant ball-hawking squad is brewing in Virginia football’s defensive backfield.

The Cavalier secondary has been the catalyst for the team’s unexpected success this season. Picked to finish last in the ACC Coastal before the season by the conference’s poll, Virginia has silenced doubters with two overpowering defensive victories against Miami and Duke in the past two weeks.

There were very few moments in both games where opposing quarterbacks didn’t look lost against Virginia’s coverage.

A recent victim of Virginia’s “No Fly Zone” was Duke junior quarterback Daniel Jones, who has recently shown up in the first round of several 2019 NFL Draft Big Boards after a great start to the season. Once Duke’s running game stalled, Jones could not muster anything through the air for most of the first half. Once he finally got into a rhythm, he lofted a deep pass to the end zone that senior Virginia strong safety Juan Thornhill read and picked off.

It was the second-consecutive week that Thornhill took away a deep ball, with his interceptions against Miami sparking Virginia’s shocking upset of the Hurricanes. He seems to have a hand on just about every deep ball opposing quarterbacks have dialed up.

Later in Saturday’s game, Jones suffered the same fate against junior Cavalier cornerback Bryce Hall, who picked off a pass on the sideline to stall a Blue Devil drive.

Big plays on the ball have become a thing of habit for Hall, who ranks first in the ACC and second in the entire FBS in passes defended. Thornhill joins him atop the national leaderboards, hauling in the second most interceptions in the country with four.

Coming into this season, Coach Bronco Mendenhall knew he had two studs in the making in Hall and Thornhill based on their solid play last season. What makes this unit special, however, is sheer depth beyond the two stalwarts.

In particular, sophomore free safety Joey Blount has surged to one of Virginia’s most reliable defenders.

Working in tandem with Thornhill, Blount hasn’t stuffed the stat sheet like his counterpart — but that’s partly because no one wants to risk throwing at him.

Against Miami, Blount was graded as the top free safety in the FBS that week per Pro Football Focus’ scoring system. Soon after, the publication named him to its Mid-Season All-ACC Team, praising his efforts against the Hurricanes as a major factor. His 31-yard interception return against Miami was a giant momentum shifter in a game marred by turnovers.

A trio of effective tacklers in sophomores Brenton Nelson and Darrius Bratton and senior Tim Harris support Hall in the cornerback position.

Nelson took over Harris’s starting role last season after Harris’s season ended with an injury in the opener, and earned ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year for his breakout performance.

He has made big plays all over the field this year, including five tackles in Virginia’s 27-3 rout of Louisville in the ACC opener.

It has not been an easy road back from injury for sixth-year senior Harris with early-season struggles, but he has played a hand in Virginia’s last

two wins, registering six tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup between the games. And much like Blount, Bratton has enjoyed a nice breakout season as his role in the secondary has increased.

As a unit, these six defensive backs have been a driving force towards Virginia’s hot start to the season. As if the Cavaliers’ individual play hasn’t been scary enough for opposing offenses, Mendenhall is now finding a way to bring almost all of them at the field at once.

Against Duke Oct. 20, the Cavaliers ran a defensive package that senior linebacker Chris Peace labelled “Speed,” which included five defensive backs and only two defensive tackles up front, along with four of Virginia’s talented linebackers.. This allowed Hall, Thornhill, Blount, Nelson and Harris to patrol the backfield in tandem, and render Jones ineffective at finding an open route. Jones was forced to use his legs to fight for first downs, and Virginia’s front six quickly adjusted to completely shut down his attack.

In all, Jones was completed only 22 of his 40 passes for one touchdown and two interceptions.

The play of Virginia’s own Legion of Boom has shown the great talent

Mendenhall and his staff have developed and their ability to fit defensive schemes to their skillsets. However, key intangibles have also played a major role in the unit’s dominance.

For one, the group limits mental mistakes that lead to back-breaking penalties. Virginia is tied for committing the 19th fewest penalties per game in the FBS with an average of 4.8. In prior years, penalties on plays that would have been big third-down stops allowed opponents to sustain drives against the Cavaliers, tiring out the secondary over the game. Against Duke, Virginia only had two defensive penalties — one of which being a personal foul on Hall that he redeemed later in the drive with a pivotal pass breakup.

That redemption play highlights the other intangible Virginia’s secondary has shown — pure heart.

Where Virginia teams in prior years may have given up on plays and shown a lack of hustle, Cavalier defensive backs have shown relentless fight this year to keep opponents off the scoreboard.

When Virginia played Miami, the Hurricanes finally seemed to break through their offensive struggles when freshman running back Travis Homer burst down the sideline for a

big rushing a gain. What looked like a momentum shifting touchdown was stopped by Hall, who came from out of the television frame — at over 22 miles per hour — to wrap Homer down before the 10-yard line. Miami later settled for a field goal on the drive.

After the Duke game, Hall was given the honor of “breaking the rock,” a player of the game tradition the team started this season after every win. He continues to exemplify the resilience and toughness reflected by the entire secondary unit, which — layered on that talent — has helped vault Virginia into the Coastal contender conversation.

Like the 2013-2014 Seahawks, the Virginia football team’s gritty identity is reflected in its own Legion of Boom — a talented, deep group of players that show exceptional heart and hustle. The Cavaliers’ No Fly Zone will only expand as the group continues to grind together — giving opposing quarterbacks nightmares week in and week out.

ALEC DOUGHERTTY is a Sports Editor for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached by email at a.dougherty@cavalierdaily.com or on Twitter at @aduggs96.

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CHRISTINA ANTON | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Junior cornerback Bryce Hall has been one of the breakout stars of college football this season.

COURTESY

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018

An open letter to the voters of the 5th Congressional District: Clean energy has created thousands of new, high-paying jobs in Virginia and is spurring billions of dollars of investment across rural America, including Southwest and Southside Virginia.

This is America’s future. And as an emerging clean energy hub, the opportunity is now for the 5th Congressional District.

It was encouraging to see clean energy discussed at the 5th Congressional District debate.

Unfortunately, Denver Riggleman’s comments that linked climate action to job loss are just plain wrong.

The transition to a clean energy economy will address climate change AND create jobs.

For the past two years, our 5th District representation has worked against the interests of our local clean energy industry. We can’t afford another two years of the same.

It’s time to take a stand. We need action, not talk. Commitments, not excuses. It’s time to support clean energy—and our local economy. This is about our changing climate. And it’s about creating jobs in the fastest-growing industry sector in the heart of the 5th District.

Cutting-edge clean energy companies in the 5th District are eliminating carbon emissions through innovation. Only one candidate intends to lead the charge for clean energy jobs and protect future generations from the devastating effects of unmitigated climate change.

That candidate is Leslie Cockburn. We urge you to vote to support a clean energy future for the 5th Congressional District on November 6.

Paid for by Apex Clean Energy

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THE CAVALIER DAILY

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LEAD EDITORIAL

Make U.Va. language accessible

OPINION

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Students from non-English speaking families experience an undue burden filling out inaccessible University paperwork.

he open letter brought forward by Hispanic/Latinx students at the University has sent shockwaves through our community.

The issues highlighted in the letter demonstrated how Hispanic/Latinx students experience undue burdens in living out their identities on Grounds. In particular, the students’ request for translated documents showcase the vast dearth in resources for families that do not speak English.

Students from multicultural backgrounds should never have to jump through excessive hoops to acquire an education on account of their minority status. Because of this, the University should promptly translate all necessary documents into Spanish, as well as other languages demonstrating a representative need for accessi-

bility purposes.

As the open letter explicitly stated, Hispanic/Latinx students make up 6 percent of the undergraduate student population. While they comprise a minority of the student population, this does not mean that their needs should be overlooked. At the moment, the financial aid office does not acknowledge these students’ particular needs, as crucial financial aid documents remain available in only English.

The University’s English-only documents create significant barriers for students from multicultural backgrounds that often do not speak English at home. When it comes to securing financial aid for college, non-English speaking prospective students and their parents face an

overly burdensome challenge in understanding and filling out these documents to receive the maximum amount of aid. This requires students and their parents to work together to fill out the information, with parents providing intimate financial information on the forms. Many students from Hispanic/Latinx communities have had to go through this process alone, leaving room for potential errors on the forms that can lead to missed aid opportunities. This is unacceptable.

The core of the problem stems from the University’s lack of human resources to service the Hispanic/ Latinx community. At the current moment, Student Financial Services has zero staffers proficient in any languages other than English. With that

in mind, it is unsurprising that Student Financial Services has not made progress in language accessibility.

The University’s institutional blind spots perpetuate students’ negative perceptions of the University’s effort to meet the needs of minority populations. The administration should heed the advice of the Latinx Student Alliance and other student groups and hire professionals to translate these documents — no longer should the responsibility rest on the student to meditate language differences in order to acquire an education.

When the University disservices one community, it stains the entire mission statement of the Community of Trust — the effort students put into making the University a place of diversity and excellence should be re-

ciprocated by the University’s efforts to be accessible. The barriers to aid can have long lasting consequences for non-English speaking families from unnecessary loans leading to years of more debt to realizations that the University is designed for the majority at the expense of the minority. As the LSA and its supporters powerfully claim, the University is #OursToShape. It’s time we shape the University to include all of us and stop the erasure of minority communities.

THE CAVALIER DAILY EDITORIAL BOARD is composed of the executive editor, the editor in chief and three at-large members of the paper. The board can be reached at eb@cavalierdaily.com.

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The opinions expressed in The Cavalier Daily are not necessarily those of the students, faculty, staff or administration of the University of Virginia. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the editorial board. Cartoons and columns represent the views of the authors. The managing board of The Cavalier Daily has sole authority over and responsibility for all content.

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MANAGING BOARD Editor-in-Chief Tim Dodson Managing Editor Ben Tobin Executive Editor Jake Lichtenstein Operations Manager Sonia Gupta Chief Financial Officer Nate Bolon EDITORIAL BOARD Jake Lichtenstein Tim Dodson Audrey Fahlberg Tom Ferguson Katherine Smith

JUNIOR BOARD Assistant Managing Editors Alexis Gravely Gracie Kreth (SA) Alec Husted (SA) Alix Nguyen (SA) Aaron Rose (SA) Anne Whitney (SA) Hannah Boehlert

News Editors Jake Gold Maggie Servais (SA) Kate Bellows (SA) Geremia Di Maro Sports Editors Alec Dougherty Jake Blank (SA) Emma D’arpino (SA) Zach Zamoff Life Editors Julie Bond Natalie Seo Arts & Entertainment Editors Dan Goff Thomas Roades (SA) Darby Delaney (SA) Ben Hitchcock Health & Science Editors Tina Chai Ruhee Shah Focus Editor Abby Clukey Opinion Editors Brendan Novak Jacob Asch (SA) Gavin Scott Humor Editor Veronica Sirotic (SA) Ben Miller Cartoon Editor Mira du Plessis (SA) Gabby Fuller

Production Editors Mark Felice Zach Beim Elizabeth Lee Print Graphics Editor Aisha Singh Maddy Sita Photography Editors Christina Anton Andrew Walsh (SA) Chandler Collins Video Editor Raymundo Mora Engineering Manager Leo Dominguez Social Media Managers Ashley Botkin Libby Scully Translation Editors Yuqi Cheng Natalia Chavez (SA) Felipe Buitrago Marketing & Advertising Managers Avantika Mehra Sales Representivies Lydia Kim Abhi Opesh Business Manager Kelly Mays

www.cavalierdaily.com • OPINION

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018

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MILLER CENTER’S LATEST HIRE IS ANOTHER MISSTEP By hiring John Negroponte, the Miller Center further undermines its reputation as a respected academic institution.

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n early September, the Miller Center announced the hiring of John Negroponte as the new James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor. Coming just a few months after the controversial hiring of Trump policy architect Marc Short, it’s another embarrassing and morally unjustifiable choice from the institution.

One could be forgiven if the name John Negroponte doesn’t ring a bell. He’s painted as a diplomat and experienced foreign policy expert, but it hardly counts as being a diplomat when your definition of diplomacy is constant violence and war. For the last 40 years, Negroponte has been an active participant in American imperialism, often turning a blind eye to human rights abuses.

The story goes that after nearly 10 years of mass murder and relentless bombing of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, the U.S. was finally ready to leave. Henry Kissinger, was preparing a deal with Northern Vietnam, essentially conceding the end of the war and an American loss. Negroponte, however, felt this was unacceptable and voiced disapproval. Negroponte’s desire for continual war in southeast Asia was ignored, but he wouldn’t have to wait too long to aid other humanitarian disasters.

In 1981, Ronald Reagan handed off the job of ambassador to Honduras to Negroponte. While not the location of U.S. troop support for far-right governments, Negroponte did help ensure the continuance of military aid to Honduras.

This was at a time when the military of Honduras was engaging in brutal human rights abuses. Among the more notorious of U.S. backed groups was the CIA trained Battalion 3-16, which indiscriminately targeted leftists, murdering and torturing them. As the U.S. funneled millions of dollars into brutal counterrevolutionary operations in Honduras, Negroponte’s job increasingly became about suppress-

skeptical of peace negotiations and actively pushed for more support to the Contra counterrevolutionaries.

The Baltimore Sun exposed Negroponte’s knowledge of these crimes in a series of investigative reports in 1994 and 1995. Yet, as a human rights abuse enabler, Negroponte found himself right at home in Washington. He’d continue with a long career in Washington, eventually being appointed ambassador to Iraq in 2004. Now, he’s settled into his role as a sage of diplomats.

Having gone from one university to another, he lands at the Miller Center ready to impart his knowledge for financial gain.

It’d be reasonable to wonder

For the last 40 years, Negroponte has been an active participant in American imperialism, often turning a blind eye to human rights abuses.

ing known human rights abuses.

At the same time, Negroponte became crucial to the escalating attacks by the Contras into Nicaragua. Many years after Negroponte became ambassador, it would become known that he was deeply

what’s so bad about the Miller Center adding an enabler of human rights abuses to its staff. In fact, what high-level political appointee hasn’t done something questionable in their tenure? Rather than this line of reason being justifica-

tion for whatever horrendous hire the Miller Center decides on, it showcases the need to actually engage in thoughtful critique of hiring former aides of crimes.

Marc Short and John Negroponte were both able to carry out vicious, horrible actions in positions of power, knowing that the consequences for them would be negligible. Institutions like the Miller Center are crucial to preventing anything resembling justice. Marc Short will get paid $48,000 for his expertise in implementing an agenda that can only be described as an assault on the majority of Americans. Negroponte gets a cushy and distinguished position for spending the last 45 years supporting American-backed violence.

It’s perhaps most ironic that in his letter defending the hiring of Marc Short, director of the Miller Center, William J. Antholis, writes that “I myself have written articles sharply critical of the administration within the realm of my own expertise.” It’s possible that Antholis truly sees himself as an active resistor to the Trump administration and its repressive reactionary politics. But the cognitive dissonance to try and absolve himself of hiring decisions is troubling. Writing harsh op-eds, and then using your power to provide financial support

to people directly opposed to the values of peace, equality and justice is not resistance. Rather, by hiring Marc Short and John Negroponte, Antholis proves himself as an ally of the reactionary politics of the last 45 years and of the hatred that Trump spews every day.

The Miller Center has a choice: provide relief for the despots of reactionary politics, thus further legitimizing their harmful practices, or take a stand. For starters, the Miller Center should disassociate themselves with Negroponte and Short. It’s clear that they have no place in a serious academic institution. Second, the Miller Center should publish a formal apology and commit itself to no longer being a safe haven for the type of people who seek to strip public institutions and other nations for their own benefit. Without a clear action against their recent decisions, it becomes hard to take the Miller Center seriously, now and until they resolve these hires.

JAKE WARTEL is a Viewpoint Writer for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily. com.

END CASH BAIL Too many people are jailed for the crime of being poor

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merica’s criminal justice system is profoundly broken, and one of its most alarming features is its staggering incarceration rate for those not even convicted of a crime. American prisons incarcerate over 450,000 individuals who, unable to afford cash bail and accused of minor crimes, are merely awaiting trial within a U.S. prison. We must find alternatives to the cash bail system.

The purpose of cash bail—to pressure those accused of a crime into showing up for court—has long roots in American law.

However, in the midst of the inequities of American society, disturbing consequences have emerged from the practice. Many of our poorest citizens are forced to sit in jail awaiting trial rather than pay oft-exorbitant bail fees.

Many pre-trial detentions involve individuals accused of lowrisk crimes — traffic violations, non-violent drug offenses, property crimes — who then cannot afford to pay their way out of jail.

And the fiscal consequences of our over-reliance on cash bail is stark: we squander over $13.6 billion every year by running jails

filled with pretrial detainees.

Fixing the cash bail system is a matter racial justice as well, since non-violent pre-trial detention disproportionately targets African-American and Latino individuals. Black individuals receive “significantly higher” bail amounts than white individuals, which is worsened by the existing higher likelihood that people of color will serve pretrial time when accused of a crime. In addition, digital risk assessment algorithms that are frequently used formulate bail amounts are “frequently prejudiced, falsely flagging black individuals as high-risk … at twice the rate of whites.”

Communities have enacted alternatives for years, and they deserve to be expanded across the country. Washington D.C. long ago scrapped cash bail, instead favoring a system that relies on reporting to court or GPS monitoring whilst detaining people with high-risk of violence or danger. “There is no evidence you need money to get people back to court,” D.C. Superior Court Judge Truman Morrison told the Washington Post in 2016. “It’s ir-

rational, ineffective, unsafe and profoundly unfair.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. and Rep. Ted Lieu have, D-Calif. both introduced legislation

criminal history to make predictions on future misconduct — will actually increase rates of pre-trial detention and remain racially biased. “Like taking Ad-

In the midst of a criminal justice system imbued with racial and economic inequalities, our deeply flawed cash bail system must go.

in the Senate and the House that encourages just that — banning cash bail in the federal court system and incentivizing state and local courts to find alternatives to the cash bail system. Political pressure should be placed on lawmakers to pass this legislation through Congress and ensure our over-reliance on cash bail is diminished.

The elimination of cash bail does not come without hazards.

Activists and scholars have opposed a cash bail repeal bill in California over fears that the new system — an algorithm-based risk assessment tool that gauges

vil for cancer, California has alleviated a symptom while ignoring the underlying malady,” David Feige and Robin Steinberg argue in a recent New York Times oped. We’ve yet to see whether or not Feige and Steinberg’s fears will be founded, but they raise an excellent point that new bail systems may only exacerbate problems if not carefully implemented.

Luckily, most experiments with new bail systems have worked well and avoided these problems. Philadelphia implemented an “early bail review” that released people with bonds

under $50,000 who had still been jailed after five days. According to Philadelphia mayor James Kenney, the city released 84 percent of those reviewees, and more than 92 percent later returned for following hearings.

The city relocated non-violent drug offenders from jail cells to drug treatment centers, and none of these offenders were re-arrested over a four-month period. The city dramatically decreased jail populations, and considers their experiment with pretrial release a success.

In the midst of a criminal justice system imbued with racial and economic inequalities, our deeply flawed cash bail system must go. Affluence cannot define who walks free and who doesn’t.

We must stop holding people for the crime of being poor.

JACK WILKINS is a Viewpoint Writer for The Cavalier Daily.

He can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily.com.

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HUMOR As the midterm elections approach, it becomes increasingly clear that Americans are as divided as ever. In an effort to combat that evergrowing schism, the Virginia General Assembly passed HB 1624 on Oct. 16, financing a plan designed to increase communal ties and employment by incentivizing people to act as Communal Linking and Order Workers for Neighborliness.

Bill sponsor Schuyler VanValkenberg from Virginia’s 72nd District explained the Assembly’s reasoning behind the bill, telling CBS 8, “Historically, societies are at their least divided when there is a scapegoat for everyone to blame for problems and direct their hate towards. After dismissing a series of potential groups such as vegans, people who vape, men with pointy beards, a letter about clown unemployment came across my desk and we just sort of ran with it.”

The Communal Linking and Or-

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CARTOON

THE CAVALIER DAILY

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Forest Clowns to be brought back in effort to Tyrnan Prasad | Humor Columnist der Workers for Neighborliness, or C.L.O.W.N.s, will be dressing up in colorful costumes and positioning themselves in semi-visible locations, often brandishing threatening objects like baseball bats, knives and balloons. VanValkenberg stated in his interview that more research is necessary to formulate criterion for C.L.O.W.N. locations as to maximize the number of times they will be seen without compromising spookiness. “Ideally, we would want people to inexplicably stumble across them in the woods, but we had to compromise on that so we could dedicate more efforts to making every picture of them posted online look like it was taken by someone’s great grandmother.”

The Governor’s Office released a statement emphasizing their hopes that the bill will bring Virginians together in a time of “[great sectarian divisions].” The statement also said they hoped the bill would be well received on account of its “seasonal appropriateness.”

The program is to be launched in a few select pilot cities that have

yet to be determined, though a number, including Charlottesville, have already begun lobbying. Charlottesville’s proposal mentioned a number of additional benefits the program might have beyond giving its population a common enemy (besides Virginia Tech). Of particular note was the claim that the program would “reduce incidences of adolescent rowdiness,” because, “Who would want to go out and drink on a Thursday night when you might get stabbed by a clown?”

The proposal projects that underaged drinking will decline sharply under the program and noise pollution will all but disappear. The Cavalier Daily reached out to a number of fraternities for comment, but, perhaps unsurprisingly, none of them read the email.

The U.Va. Office of Student Affairs has also commented on the potential for the program to increase academic engagement by forcing students to confine themselves to their rooms. Local business owners are less enthusiastic.

While the bill is being adver-

tised to the general public as a way to unite the nation against a common enemy and prevent non-neighborly activities, it began as a way for the mostly unemployed clown population to get back into the job market. When asked about the bill, clown-lobbyist Bozo Abramoff said, “With Barnum and Bailey ending, a lot of us were faced with pretty grim prospects. The freelance birthday party scene has all but dried up on account of people thinking that clowns are freaky.

The new ‘It’ movie did do a little bit to make us seem less scary, but the magicians and jugglers have all but cornered the market.” Clown employment is projected to quintuple following full implementation, but some projections indicate that there may not be enough interest in C.L.O.W.N. positions once the program rolls out statewide. If this is the case, the bill contains a provision which would offer C.L.O.W.N. service as an alternative to prison time to convicted criminals. Polls conducted in prisons seem to indicate that the idea holds especially

A New Era for U.Va. Gabby Fuller | Cartoonist

strong appeal with violent offenders.

The announcement about which counties are to be a part of the pilot program is expected to come at some point this month. Ironically, there already seems to be division over whether or not the program should be welcome on Grounds.

Many fear that bringing back the clowns will create safety issues, while a number of other students have claimed that the clowns were “hella dope.” Either way, we will know more in the coming weeks and you can expect us to keep you up to date.

TYMAN PRASAD is a Humor Columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at humor@cavalierdaily.com.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018

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WEEKLY CROSSWORD PUZZLE Dan Goff | Arts and Entertainment Editor *THE SOLUTION TO THIS PUZZLE CAN BE FOUND IN THE NEXT ISSUE

PUZZLES Across 1. Reddish-brown metal covering 5. Open, as a door 9. Affectionate term for mother's sister 11. Fancy cloth 13. Cell bunkers 15. People always forget it's a fruit 16. Unstoppable — three words 17. Capital of Germany 18. Pocket fuzz 19. Cylindrical sacs in botany 22. Long ago, former times 23. Small arm of a body of water 25. Stringed Renaissance instrument — essentially a prefix today 26. How old you are 27. Relating to folds of the brain 29. Female singer-songwriter known for "Bassically" and featured on a Glass Animals track Tei ___ 30. The science guy 31. Sugar in milk 34. Not wobbly 36. Contraction with two meanings 38. ___ the pot 40. Something shared between you and me 42. Petty quarrels 46. Enormous 47. Beat without music

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48. Leafy green 49. Organs, among other things 51. Chemistry term for extracting one thing from another 54. Wooden board on rafters 55. A mother and son, for example 56. Six-down's predecessor, familiarly 57. Six-down's ranking, in terms of predecessors 58. Urinates 59. Talk-back

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49 Down 1. The type of shoes six-down 54 wore to his inauguration 56 2. Sissy, some would say 3. A self-___ doesn't need outside help 4. "The king of Latin music" ___ Puente 5. ___ vera 6. The author of "Wait, What? And Life's Other Essential Questions" 7. "This thing is like this other thing" 8. One who no longer works, by choice 9. Mayo with garlic 10. Slippery sea creature 12. Not any

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33. Test to measure blood pressure while exercising — abbreviated 34. Commits oneself — two words 35. British term for molasses 37. Orders imposed by someone in power, not by popular consent 38. Period of time working 39. Popular fishes for eating 41. Humorless, strict 43. Judaism, Islam, Mormon, etc.

44. Sheet of detached ice 45. What you do to an email after you write it 50. With "up," make agitated or excited 52. Hawaiian accessories 53. Forearm bone

CORRECTION In the Oct. 18 issue of The Cavalier Daily, an incorrect version of a news article entitled “A place to call their own: The push for a Latinx student space on Grounds,” was printed. The final version of the article was posted online.

THE CAVALIER DAILY

A& E ARTS &

The ‘bad girls’ of ‘The Wolves’ do it well U.Va. Drama production presents triumphant ensemble, multilayered plot

ENTERTAINMENT I love plays by women about women that aren’t love stories,” “The Wolves” director Amanda McRaven said of the drama department’s latest production, currently running at the Ruth Caplin Theatre. The play centers around the members of an indoor soccer team as they prepare for their games, exploring their friendships, personal struggles and individual wills.

The highlight of the production was the work of all nine leads. The ensemble cast — often onstage together, engaging in separate conversations simultaneously — shined as a unit and in individual performances. Third-year College student Heidi Waldenmaier leads the team as captain and has a commanding presence as well as a few standout lines of comedy. First-year College student Rosie Boatner-Doane is

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Robin Schwartzkopf | Senior Writer the overcommitted, pressure-driven goalie whose emotional, careful performance is a standout, even when she stays silent for a whole scene.

The whole team — composed of first- through fourth-year actors — blend and clash impressively on stage, their collaboration in staging and rehearsal a visible element of the production. And yet the conversations seem natural, have a kind of off-beat rhythm, and — perhaps most importantly — do not devalue the thoughts of a diverse group of opinionated women.

“The Wolves” prioritizes the young, female voice that much of playwriting has scorned. It explores, without judgment, the strengths and weaknesses of character in a group of nine women who come together to play soccer.

“I wanted to create a produc-

tion that honored each voice and their collective spirit — as a team of women who ultimately support and love each other much more than they compete with each other,” McRaven said.

The players are funny. They fight. They talk about politics and history — with varying levels of knowledge on the subject — and in the next breath discuss tampons and trips to a lake house. The audience can feel the rhythm of conversation on stage. The viewer is a witness to truthful interaction between young women, minus the condescension of old men.

“The Wolves” invites you to watch as the minds and hearts of nine women bounce off each other, trading ideas, exchanging blows and reconciling differences. The lively energy of the play — soundtracked

by M.I.A.’s ferocious 2010 bop “Bad

Girls” — ebbs and flows as games are won and lost, but McRaven’s directorial principles hold the viewer at attention.

“I think the theater as a whole over time lost a sense of vibrancy,” McRaven said. “I like productions that embrace spectacle and theatricality … I want audiences to have an experience they can only have in a theater.”

Spectacle and theatricality abound in “The Wolves,” with its multi-layered conversations and constant circulation of soccer drills and warm-ups. Girls kick and pass balls, juggle and chant, all while idly talking and processing feelings. When all actors are present on stage, the near-constant motion forces the viewer to decide where to look, to make a choice as part of the theater-going experience.

McRaven said “The Wolves”

was “a very difficult play to direct because of the choral nature of the piece … It was definitely a challenge, but a really fun one.”

“The Wolves” worked best when the players controlled the stage.

Given the reins to their own, lessthan-complete arcs, each girl could stretch her legs and interact with other characters. They do not become fully-formed adults or learn neatly boxed lessons by the end of the play, but they do experience grief as a team and come out together. “The Wolves” is a slice of the traditional coming-of-age story, and its characters shine because of it.

“The Wolves” is showing at the Ruth Caplin Theatre through Saturday, Oct. 27.

Forgotten Films — ‘Suspiria’ (1977) There’s an original to the 2018 remake that almost no one has heard about Mark Felice | Production Editor The highly-anticipated 2018 remake of “Suspiria,” directed by Luca Guadagnino, is scheduled to be released to limited screenings Oct. 26, with a wide release Nov. 2. Despite the excitement surrounding the new horror film, most people don’t have a clue as to the remake’s original source.

The 1977 original “Suspiria” was directed by the Italian horror director Dario Argento. Argento was well-known for his giallo horror films, which was an Italian subgenre of horror film and greatly influenced modern horror filmmaking. The genre would often explore elements of mystery, supernatural, slasher and psychological thriller. It is easy to identify a giallo horror film due to the distinctive style.

The film stars relatively unknown and foreign actresses Jessica Harper, Alida Valli and Joan Bennett in the three main roles. Harper plays Suzy Bannion — an American ballet student who travels to Germany to study at an elite dance academy.

Valli plays Miss Tanner — the lead dance instructor of the academy.

Lastly, Bennett, in her final major film role, plays Madame Blanc — the headmistress and owner of the academy.

The plot has a simple premise, but expands into a much larger, more riveting suspense. Once Suzy arrives to the academy, a mysterious

woman runs out of the academy and never returns — or so the characters think. The next morning, when Suzy returns, police detectives are investigating her disappearance.

This begins the journey into the dance academy and all of the secrets and dark horrors that lurk within.

Dark, creepy and frightening, the women of the academy skulk around the building watching everyone.

Suzy is especially a target, though she knows little of the academy’s mystical and satanic rituals — to which she will later become a witness. The audience has a better idea than Suzy as to what is going on behind the scenes.

Of the many spectacular elements to this film, there are three particularly worth highlighting — the music, the cinematography and the color.

The music will put you in the right frame of mind from the first note. Eerie and with a horrific essence, the score is designed to keep you on the edge of your seat and concerned for whoever is on the screen. The main theme of the film is played by Italian band Goblin.

This music and film were so iconic that it directly inspired the theme to the 1978 horror classic “Halloween,” another film seeing a revival this month. In a meeting with the lead singer of Goblin, “Halloween” director John Carpenter revealed

that his iconic score for the film had been directly inspired by Goblin’s work in another film.

The cinematography is also brilliant. So many of the landscape and singular shots are telling to the themes of the story. Some of the shots will terrify, while others will disgust. All of them are strategically placed in order to increase the suspense and chills.

The most recognizable element of the film is the color usage. Unusual in most film, the horror genre allows the director to play with viewers’ imaginations and utilize their senses. An unusual usage of primary colors is shown throughout. It is quite beautiful, but also terrifying in many ways.

The casting of Tilda Swinton in the 2018 remake is perfect. If you watch the original “Suspiria” before you go see the new edition, it will become clear why. Swinton is sure to be the creepiest and most commanding character onscreen.

Alternatively, the casting of Dakota Johnson is greatly concerning. Her recent work with the "50 Shades of Grey" franchise might not translate into the high concept horror that is Suspiria. However, everything else looks perfect on paper, and hopefully Johnson won’t ruin the effect.

It may be difficult to see the original because it has not been mass-produced in a while, and most

copies are available through Amazon, but ship from Europe. But if you want to see the 2018 remake, the original is a must-watch first. Otherwise, you are doing a disservice to yourself and to a classic horror movie.

Forgotten Films is part of a series in which the author breaks down films that have lost significance in the pop culture landscape, but still deserve attention due to their history, impact and lasting importance. This biweekly column is spoiler-free.

MARK FELICE | THE CAVALIER DAILY

The highly-anticipated 2018 remake of “Suspiria,” directed by Luca Guadagnino, is scheduled to be released to limited screenings Oct. 26.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018

www.cavalierdaily.com • ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

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Technology, duality shape the architecture of tomorrow From Jeffersonian columns to 3D printing, guest professor Heather Roberge explains the virtues of modern architecture amidst heavy tradition Max Patten | Staff Writer As a University of California, Los Angeles professor and the founder of Murmur — a sustainable architecture firm — Heather Roberge has been on the frontline of some of architecture’s most modern advancements. She is responsible for award-winning concepts like “Succulent House,” which reimagines how a modern building can impact environmentally-conscious behavior by displaying water collection instead of hiding it behind walls.

This fall, the School of Architecture is hosting her as a visiting professor, as she continues her current research on the impact of digital technology on architecture. Last Wednesday night, she demonstrated some of her work in a presentation titled “Form and Visuality.” Arts and Entertainment had the chance to speak with her the next day about her creative perspectives and thoughts and reactions to her experiences at the University.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Arts and Entertainment: When it comes to your experimental projects like “En Pointe,” you tend to have your work serve as art and expression while also involving the traditional, utilitarian discipline of engineering. How do you relate those two things?

Heather Roberge: Well, I’m quite interested in the design of structures. I started studying as an engineering student when I was an undergrad, but I’m not so interested in engineers’ foregrounding of weight and efficiency … I’m interested in structures that aren’t first and foremost the least means to achieve a job. I’m interested in unusual load paths that give you some other extra side effect … So rather than ‘least material in order to hold the load, we add factors like visual perception, forms like the silhouette of the column, and so you get a response that triangulates the parameters instead of producing a quantitative response.

AE: So it’s efficiency along more than one dimension of just “maximize this,” it’s about the unintended effects as well sometimes?

HR: Yes. AE: Many argue that digital aids and tools can hinder creativity by making it too easy to design for that one dimension of efficiency, robbing the creator of an artistic voice in that process. How do you counter that?

HR: It appears that when you embrace a digital tool or a kind of mode of manufacturing that you’re deferring to the logics of that particular device, [but] in fact

it’s more complex than that. So if you’re trying to communicate with a 3D printer, there’s an intermediary tool between you and the printer, and that is a modeling tool. And that modeling tool has any number of modes of description that exist within it. So you are always free to choose tools within tools within tools that allow you to be creative … The tool is actually quite open-ended, especially 3D printing, because 3D printing has very little self-weight and such fine tolerance you can make almost anything with a 3D printer.

AE: So rather than being a medium that defines your work, technology is just an enabling tool?

HR: Yeah, it’s just a representation of the three-dimensional drawing that you are producing.

For that reason, I’m not as interested in 3D printing as much as other forms of creation because there’s not very much resistance or material information that you can fold into the design process.

AE: So rather than this onesize-fits-all approach of 3D printing where you can make a lot but have very limited material choice, you prefer more specialized and material-based approaches?

HR: Yeah … 3D printing is also a rather slow process. It’s quick compared to making a real object but it’s incredibly slow at making numerous repeats of an object.

That’s why you don’t often see 3D printing used at an industrial scale. You have kind of bespoke jewelry designers and couteur garment designers using it, but you wouldn’t use it to make thousands of repeated parts.

AE: Right, it’s about smaller, modular elements. With your work, “Succulent House,” you addressed the issue of efficiently collecting water through architectural design. What inspired that process and would you say you’re trying to have your design integrate into and interact with a larger world?

HR: What inspired it was an interest in thinking about the transformation of the house if you were to try to accommodate an issue of sustainability that was integral to the organization of the house rather than being equipment that you add-on to a traditional house.

Frequently we’re seeing upgrades to materials or upgrades to equipment that’s clipped on to the house, but the house as a structure and organization isn’t really being reconceived in relation to environmental performance … “Succulent House” is trying to incorporate just one factor of sustainability, which is reducing water use and recharging ground water. So how are you

more mindful of how much water you use, where it comes from and where it goes when you’re finished using it? By incorporating rainwater gathering in the heart of the building it’s there to visually reveal the cycles of your use of water as well as the rainwater cycles of your particular location. It makes the building connected to the systems that sustain it, so instead of hiding the plumbing in the wall and the waste pipe underneath the floor, [it] makes you aware of the technology that’s supporting your lifestyle in the house.

AE: Beyond environmental interaction, like optimising architecture for resource efficiency and factors like climate change, you’re also accommodating behavior by having things like rooms that serve multiple purposes. The way people nowadays will treat the kitchen as a social space when that didn’t happen at all 40 years ago.

HR: Right, of course. There used to be strict subdivisions between the work that was done in the house and the social and communal sections of the house. Since our [modern] lifestyle supports fuzzy boundaries between work and leisure in the house, you could imagine … that you could extend that to the question of how many single-use spaces does a house need and can you use clever design to make a fewer number of spaces serve more purposes? To me that serves as a more straightforward response to sustainability than doing remediation where you try to improve the R-value of a wall when you could have far more usable wall if you designed more cleverly.

AE: How have you tried to incorporate these themes in your time as a guest professor here at the University?

HR: Well, I have a wide-ranging number of interests, so what I’m working on with the students now is a particular slice of my interests. Right now they’re designing a public branch library for D.C., but they’re using a close study of the column, of space-making and of producing organization in architecture. So they’re using those things as a lens to construct an environment for a library.

But while doing that we’re beginning to have conversations about the forms of social infrastructure that a library provides to the public as well. Since there are so few kinds of building types that serve the public so immediately, the library is one that we’re seeing as a social space, as a leisure space, and as a space for access to technology for communities that don’t

MAX PATTEN | THE CAVALIER DAILY

The Cavalier Daily spoke to Heather Roberge, a visiting professor in the School of Architecture, about her creative perspectives and experiences at the University.

have those resources at home.

AE: Both D.C. and Charlottesville have very neoclassical-inspired architectural design.

I imagine it brings about a very different character from your full time work at UCLA. What has that been experience been like, getting to know that different perspective?

HR: It’s been interesting because in a way I’m offering an alternative to neoclassical expression. There’s some students who are incredibly enamored with the Jefferson Mall — and justifiably so — but I think one of the incredible things about architecture is that as technology and culture shift, architectural expression typically shifts with it. So to me, holding on to neoclassicism while the world changes around it seems to be missing opportunities for invention. Rather than think about new things or changing aesthetics as devaluing old traditions, I would say it’s just adding new perspectives on long-standing questions.

So that’s why we’re looking at the column — in order to see its progression, its evolution, and variation across time, so that we understand the principles at work and the various ways that those principles get translated into expression.

AE: From this wonderfully eclectic and opinionated set of architecture students at the University, what’s surprised you the most?

HR: I am happy to see their

willingness to engage in methods they might not have done before, and it’s really interesting to watch them learn and discover things in their own work just by studying the methods that they’re using. So watching them shift perspective is something that I really enjoy and there’s a lot of talented students.

I’ve also had the opportunity to work with young faculty students who are teaching here, and that’s also great because one of the advantages of doing visiting positions is that you learn from this new context about things that may not be foregrounded about where you live and work. So I think it’s really a two-way feedback loop where I’m learning from them, and they’re learning from me.

AE: Lastly on that note, what’s a takeaway from Charlottesville that you think you’ll bring back home to your practice?

HR: I think that the boundary between public and private space is something that’s not fixed, but over the course of the day certain spaces move from public ones to private ones. The front yards of the Pavilion for instance become private in the evening, so there’s these interesting dual purposes served by things that I would have assumed have fixed designations.

H&S HEALTH & SCIENCE

Wahoos for Sustainability — an organization dedicated to lowering the University’s carbon footprint — launched a petition on April 22 calling on the University to set a goal for achieving carbon neutrality by 2035 . The petition has garnered nearly 1,200 signatures so far from students, faculty and alumni.

Wahoos for Sustainability was founded in 2016 by three alumni to support the goal the University had already established to reduce greenhouse gases by 25 percent of 2009 levels by the year 2025. According to its website, the independent organization is comprised of “alumni, students, faculty and staff.”

“The University is really approaching a fork in the road in terms of its next goal,” said Grey McLean, a Class of 1995 alumnus and founding member of Wahoos for Sustainability. “And so I think that Wahoos [for Sustainability] really believes that the University should make sustainability a core strategic goal in the University, not only in teaching and research but also in practice.”

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Alumni-led group calls for carbon neutrality Wahoos for Sustainability created a petition calling for carbon neutrality at the University by 2035 Zoe Ziff | Staff Writer Wahoos for Sustainability is not formally affiliated with any student-run groups or the University itself. Abigail Heher, a third-year College student and chair of the Student Council Sustainability committee said in an email to The Cavalier Daily that beyond forwarding the petition to student groups, Student Council was not very involved in its development.

The committee is currently focusing on working with organizations such as Pancakes for Parkinson's to make their events “zero waste,” which would, in turn, would lower the University’s carbon emissions during waste processing.

According to a U.Va. Sustainability Zero Waste Event Guide, “a zero waste event is one in which organizers emphasize reusable, recyclable, or compostable materials in order to minimize land-fill-bound waste from the event.” Recommendations in the guide include eliminating single-use items, such as condiment packets, and non-compostable materials, such as plastic coffee stirrers.

Heher supports the goal set out by the carbon neutrality petition, and said that Student Council is looking for ways to show support for the University’s goals in sustainability.

Although Wahoos for Sustainability is also independent from the University and U.Va. Sustainability, McLean serves as his organization’s representative on the Committee for Sustainability in the Office of Sustainability.

“We anticipate meeting our 2025 goal ahead of schedule, and because of that and the urgency of climate action, we are already looking towards our next target,” said Cheryl Gomez and Andrea Trimble, representatives from the Facilities Management Sustainability Office, in an email to The Cavalier Daily.

Gomez and Trimble note that the University’s involvement in two solar energy projects, “U.Va. Hollyfield” and “U.Va. Puller” have been instrumental in helping meet their 2025 energy goal. U.Va. Hollyfield is a 160-acre solar facility in King William County, and U.Va. Puller is

a 120-acre solar farm in Middlesex County.

According to University’s Annual Sustainability Report for last year, there was a nearly 19 percent reduction in greenhouse emissions when comparing 2017 to 2009 levels, as well as solar panel installation on the roofs of Clemons Library, Ivy Stacks, Ruffner Hall, the University Bookstore and Skipwith Hall.

The University is also planning to purchase the output of two solar power projects in 2019 that will neutralize 21 percent of the University’s electricity usage.

While recognizing these actions, Wahoos for Sustainability challenges the University to take on a “bold, yet achievable” goal of complete carbon neutrality by 2035. The organization argues that the falling costs of renewable energy point to the affordability of the plan.

“There's certainly lots of examples of other Universities who have implemented very cost effective solutions that have saved their university and colleges actually a lot of money over time,” McLean said.

Additionally, McLean said that in order for the University to remain a leader in sustainability among its peers, it should establish an aggressive carbon neutrality date. Other institutions that have adopted plans to curb carbon emissions include Arizona State University — whose plan is to eliminate greenhouse gas emission from all energy sources by 2035 — and Harvard University — whose plan is to be fossil fuel neutral by 2026.

The University’s upcoming Bicentennial Sustainability Leadership Summit will present the University’s current projects, research and teaching related to topics in sustainability.

“A stated goal of the Summit is to envision a shared vision for UVA Sustainability that is inclusive of the voices of our faculty, staff, students, alumni and community,” Gomez and Trimble said.

The Summit will take place Oct. 28 through Oct. 30 and all events are open to the public and require pre-registration.

Profiles of Discovery celebrates scientific research at U.Va. Researchers present their work at “Spotlight on Research Excellence at UVA” event as part of inauguration festivities Tina Chai | Health & Science Editor As part of the University’s celebrations for the inauguration of its ninth president, the Profiles of Discovery event last Friday featured the scientific research pursuits of five University faculty members in the “Spotlight on Research Excellence at UVA” presentations. The event, organized by staff and faculty in the Office of the Vice President for Research, was held in the Rotunda Dome Room, with President Jim Ryan in attendance.

In addition to the “Spotlight on Research Excellence at UVA” presentations, Profiles of Discovery also featured education researchers in the “Integrated Practices: Excellence in Research and Teaching” panel and political science initiatives in the “Democracy and Citizenship” panel discussion.

Prior to the event, the Discovery Video Showcase displayed videos created by University researchers within various disciplines that briefly outlined their work.

Moderator Babur Lateef, a Board of Visitors member and opthamologist, opened the presentations, which included five brief keynote talks. Babur introduced the five speakers — Assoc.

Astronomy Prof. Kelsey Johnson, Neuroscience Prof. Jianhua “J.C.” Cang, Medicine Prof. William Petri Jr., Asst.

Electrical and Computer Engineering Prof. Homa Alemzadeh and Ophthalmology Prof. Jayakrishna Ambati — and informed that, while unplanned, the theme of sight or vision connects all five presentations.

“Our speakers will talk about how we see our universe, how we see accidents before they happen in robotic surgery, how we see the connection between infectious disease and malnutrition, how we see the importance of visual cues in brain self-assembly of neurocircuits early in life and how we are attempting to build our research methods related to preventing vision loss due to macular degeneration,” Babur said.

Johnson’s talk, titled “Unsolved Mysteries in the Universe,” had a particular focus on her work with globular clusters, compact spherical collections of ancient stars. Since globular clusters are almost as old as the universe itself, visualizing these groups of stars would allow humans to better understand the galaxy from 12 billion years ago.

Humans are not able to see globular clusters in the visible light spectrum, so Johnson and colleagues utilized the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array telescope located in the Atacama Desert in Chile to look into

the dark universe.

Johnson is also the director of the Dark Skies, Bright Kids non-profit program, which takes advantage of Charlottesville’s dark night skies to inspire scientific interest in elementary school students.

Cang, a recent recruit from Northwestern University through the Jefferson Scholars Foundation Chaired Professorship Program, spoke next on his research on the brain — specifically, the neural basis of vision.

Cang compared human brain development to the assembly of IKEA furniture when regarding the neural circuits established from childhood to adulthood. Just as a mismatch in parts leads to faulty IKEA furniture, a neurobiological cellular mismatch at an early age can carry on into adulthood — leading to abnormal development in vision. Cang’s lab utilizes mice models to study how neurons in the brain respond to visual stimuli and through which neural circuits these processes occur.

The third keynote speaker, Petri, highlighted the importance of prevention in infectious diseases. According to Petri, of the people living with HIV in Virginia, only 30 percent are under proper medical treatment. In part of

his talk, he noted that PositiveLinks — a mobile application created by Rebecca Dillingham, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health at the University — offers personalized patient reminders and communication with healthcare providers, working to increase the proportion of people receiving treatment for HIV. Petri’s talk also featured the University’s Global Infectious Diseases Institute, which is currently developing a vaccine to treat sporozoite-induced diseases — diseases carried by a mobile parasite — in poor populations in countries such as Bangladesh.

Alemzadeh presented her research on creating an operating robot to improve surgical accuracy and safety. The robot is not yet autonomous, requiring surgeon control of joystick-like manipulators to move the robotic arm, and is currently used in more than 10 procedures per week in various surgical specialties in the University hospital.

“It has already enabled new kinds of procedures that was not possible before,” Alemzadeh said. “It has reduced the time of hospital stay for patients by reducing the number of complications.”

The final speaker, Ambati, con-

ducts research on macular degeneration, the distortion or loss of vision due to retinal decay. Ambati and his lab discovered that an excess of a toxic substance called Alu activates a part of the immune system called the inflammasome, which ultimately leads to the degeneration of the retina. Since Alu and the HIV virus replicate themselves in similar ways, Ambati realized the same drugs used to treat HIV could be used for macular degeneration.

“This serendipitous discovery has now brought us to the cusp of potentially preventing blindness in millions across the world,” Ambati said.

“Even more exciting, the very same inflammasome has been shown to promote many other diseases, including Alzheimer’s, atherosclerosis, diabetes and arthritis.”

Additionally, inspired by macular degeneration progress, Ambati and colleagues are currently using big data to repurpose drugs in order to treat various other diseases.

“After listening to the session, you will agree with me that U.Va. is wellpoised to making the world a better place for discovery in all its forms,” said Melur Ramasubramanian, vice president for research and professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018

www.cavalierdaily.com • HEALTH & SCIENCE

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The ‘perfect storm’ of health insurance in Charlottesville Why Charlottesville has the highest health insurance premiums in the country and what the community is doing to fight back Kirsta Hackmeier | Staff Writer In 2018, Charlottesville had the highest premiums for any locality on the individual health insurance market in the United States, almost triple what they had been the year before.

This unprecedented price increase has spurred outrage from community members and major changes in the upcoming year.

Individual market exchanges were created under the Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as “Obamacare,” so that people who do not get insurance through their employer — either because they are self-employed or their job does not provide them with health benefits — can purchase health coverage. Almost 11.8 million Americans were enrolled in the Obamacare exchanges in 2018.

According to Prof. Carolyn Engelhard, director of the Health Policy Program at the School of Medicine, the Trump administration took steps to dismantle or weaken the ACA after its failed attempt at repealing the act in 2017. This included ending cost sharing reductions, which were established under the ACA to help mitigate losses some insurers might experience by taking on new customers. Fearful for what this change would mean for their bottom line, many insurers, such as Aetna and Anthem, decided to leave the individual market in 2018 — a problem that was exacerbated in rural areas like Albemarle County, with few providers.

And so, at the beginning of this year, there was only one company offering health insurance on the individual market in Charlottesville. This group, Optima Health — which is managed by Sentara, which also owns Martha Jefferson Hospital — proposed nearly tripling insurance premiums. According to CRHI’s calculations based on publicly available data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, this caused rates to become 23 percent higher than an-

ywhere else in the country.

“My rates were going to go from $940 a month to $2,920 a month,” said Karl Quist, a co-founder of the advocacy group Charlottesville for Reasonable Health Insurance.

Quist co-founded the group with fellow self-employed Charlottesville residents Sara Stovall and Ian Dixon, after realizing the significant price increase for 2018.

“We are all families of four with two kids … and that’s for a bronze plan, which is literally the cheapest plan you can buy on the market,” Quist said.

The proposed rates were approved by the Virginia Bureau of Insurance and went into effect this January.

CRHI criticized the Bureau for not doing more to push back against the rate hikes, which the citizens’ group finds unreasonable.

Engelhard, however, notes that there are several reasons that could help explain Optima’s increased rates. As they are now the only provider, they were expecting a sudden increase of enrollees from 17,000 in 2017 to as many as 100,000 this year.

Charlottesville also has a large population of older individuals, which can be more costly for insurers.

After Optima began receiving attention for having the highest prices in the nation, former Optima CEO Michael Dudley explained that one of the major reasons prices were so high was because of the University of Virginia Health System.

According to Engelhard, University hospitals do tend to charge more because they handle research, education and treatment, offer specialized services and often care for uninsured patients. Richard Shannon, executive vice president of the University Health System, wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post last year, arguing against Optima’s claim that rates were high in Charlottesville

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because of the University Health System.

“Optima accounts for less than 1 percent of the commercially insured patients cared for at U-Va.,” Shannon said in the op-ed. “There is a problem here, but it's not Charlottesville or the U-Va. Health System.”

CRHI estimates that only about a fifth of the approximately $110 million in premiums Optima collects in Charlottesville in 2018 will go to the University hospital, suggesting it is not the primary driver of higher rates — a claim that Quist called “false” and “misleading.”

“I think U.Va. has tried to hold Sentara to the facts,” Engelhard said.

“They want to be part of the conversation about how to extend the provision of health coverage to people in Central Virginia.”

Dixon points to three factors that came together to create the present situation — the federal government’s decision to end certain ACA provisions, the Commonwealth’s Bureau of Insurance not fighting for lower rates and the local provider charging monopoly prices. The result was “a perfect storm,” Dixon said.

The ACA designed a measure, referred to as the Medical Loss Ratio, to try to prevent large rate increases such as this one. Under this rule, providers are required to spend 80 percent of the revenue generated through premiums on paying for direct healthcare costs and quality improvement activities. This effectively creates a cap on insurer profits of 20 percent of revenue.

As stated previously, Optima is expected to take in $110 million in premiums in Charlottesville this year. While the portion going to enrollee health costs for the year is yet to be determined, calculations that CRHI has done suggest that it will be well below the required 80 percent. Optima, and its parent company, Sentara Healthcare, are 501(c)(3) registered non-profits, giving them access to special tax exempt status.

Quist points out that 2018 has been Sentara’s most profitable year to date.

Revenue in the first half of the year was 74 percent higher than the same six month period in 2017, due mostly to healthcare premiums.

That may change in 2019 though.

Anthem Health Insurance will return to the Charlottesville market next year, and offer premiums that are about 45 percent less expensive than those currently offered by Optima.

While prices will still be significantly higher than they were a couple of years ago, this announcement has come as a great relief to unsubsidized local residents, who were either paying the Optima rates or were unable to afford them and instead went uninsured.

However, this has exposed the

ANDREW WALSH | THE CAVALIER DAILY

Former Optima CEO Michael Dudley said that one of the major reasons premiums were so high was because of the University Health System. Richard Shannon, executive vice president of the University Health System, disputed this in an op-ed in the Washington Post last year.

subsidized population to a new risk.

Eighty percent of people who get their insurance through ACA exchanges receive a subsidy from the Federal government that pays for a portion of the cost of insurance. The size of the subsidy a person receives depends on their income and the cost of insurance available in their area — a person making less money and living in an area with more expensive insurance rates will receive a larger subsidy than someone making more money and living in an area with cheaper rates.

Because the only coverage available in Charlottesville in 2018 was very expensive, people were given significant subsidies to help alleviate that cost. When Anthem enters the market in 2019 with much lower rates, those subsidies are going to drop for everybody, whether they’re enrolled in the cheaper plans or not.

Subsidized individuals are automatically re-enrolled in their previous year’s plan, which means if they do not go into the exchange and switch plans manually they will be paying the higher Optima rates while receiving the lower subsidy indexed to Anthem’s premiums.

“It may be the difference between a subsidized person paying $50 a month if they get the right plan or $750 a month if they don’t,” Quist said. “This might be a person who makes $25,000 a year so they can't afford $750 a month.”

While Engelhard said the responsibility to switch plans lies with the insured individual, she also noted that health literacy and understanding around the topics of health insurance are low. A lot of factors may prevent a person from changing plans, including not being aware that

a cheaper option is available, not realizing that they will be automatically re-enrolled and not knowing that their subsidy will decease. Raising awareness about this situation among consumers has become the principal focus of CRHI, though they feel the responsibility should fall to the government and Optima.

To both Engelhard and the founders of CRHI, this year-long ordeal highlights the tangible impacts that changing health care policy has had on people in the community.

Dixon said that this issue is particularly salient in light of the upcoming midterms on Nov. 6. According to Dixon, the Cockburn campaign has been attuned to the issue, meeting with the group twice, while the Riggleman campaign has not met with CRHI. According to Cockburn’s platform, she supports the ACA and a single payer healthcare system. Riggleman’s platform mentions that “the 5th District is home to the costliest health insurance in the nation,” and he supports repealing the ACA and embracing health savings accounts.

To Stovall, Obamacare is more than just an abstract political buzzword.

“It gives us freedom to do what we want to do, to start businesses, to become artists,” Stovall said. “Without the ACA, we are beholden to our employers, we don't have any options.”

Sentara Healthcare did not respond to request for comment prior to publication.

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